Watchtower
by Serena Bancroft
Summary: Research on the Tesseract has begun, and SHIELD recruits Jane Foster instead of Eric Selvig to harness the energy of the other-worldly artifact. When Loki raids the facility, he takes over the mind of the mortal woman his brother loves. The Avengers with Jane Foster in Eric Selvig's place. Heavy Thor/Jane ship, Thor/Loki brotherly angst, minor Clint/Natasha, Tony/Pepper
1. Glass

**Title: **Watchtower  
**Author:** Serena

**Summary:** When research on the Tesseract begins, SHIELD recruits Jane Foster instead of Eric Selvig to harness the other-worldly artifact. When Loki raids the facility, he takes over the mind of the mortal woman his brother loves. The Avengers with Jane Foster in Eric Selvig's place. Very Thor-centric, heavy Thor/Jane ship, and some Thor/Loki brotherly angst.

**Ships:** Very Jane/Thor oriented, some minor Tony/Pepper and Natasha/Clint. Some Thor/Loki brotherly angst.

**AN1: **I was pretty surprised that no one had really done this yet, so I thought I'd take the leap and be the first one. I love Jane and Thor so naturally I was disappointed when we saw none of them in the movie. The picture doesn't count. I was pretty surprised actually when I really thought about it that they had Selvig get 'commandeered' by Loki rather than Jane. My theory was that the movie would've ended up too focused on Thor rather than the Avengers. Gotta give everyone equal screen time despite the fact that every fangirl just wanted to stare at Chris Hemsworth's arms. Thus, this story was born.

**AN2:** Some of the dialogue is different from the movie because that's how it is with a different character. I tried to preserve as much of the movie as possible, since it was totally epic on its own. Especially Loki's lines. This chapter follows pretty closely to the original script, but it will get different later on. Points of view will change as necessary, but it will remain Thor and Jane-centric. Plus, I wanted to get this chapter up and see if anyone's interested.

**AN3: **I do not own or am affiliated with Marvel, The Avengers, or any of the like. If I did, I wouldn't have to be writing fanfiction, now would I?

* * *

**Not till we are completely lost or turned around... do we begin to find ourselves.  
~~Henry David Thoreau**

A freaking spontaneous event. This was not good. Dr. Jane Foster furiously tried to figure out what went wrong. She'd already told Coulson to begin evacuation a few hours before. "Are we sure there was no power surge?" she asked an assistant. Again.

The laboratory in the deepest level of SHIELD's base of operations smelled of water and mildew. Jane was halfway convinced it was an airplane hangar that was converted into an experimental astrophysics ground zero. The concrete bunker was perfect to shield the cube's distinctive energy signature, and to absorb any errant radiation. It was militaristic, unsuprisingly, and as dank and unwelcoming as it came. It wasn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a definite upgrade from where she had been. (_What the hell was that old building anyway?_) And the equipment SHIELD gave her was top of the line. And her paycheck had quite a bump as well. Like, pay-off-all-student-loans-and-have-some-left-over bump in the paycheck.

All the improvements aside, her current situation had her mood lower than the floor she stood on.

"Yes, Dr. Foster. All of our electrical stimulation has been holding steady. We haven't had any surges in the past 3 and a half weeks."

She logged into the data sets, looking at the power outputs that were steadily climbing into critical range. And none if it was from them. "Crap." If the Tesseract went critical, the whole base would come down. Possibly beyond that. Agent Hill had asked for a minimum safe distance, and she found that she couldn't give her one. That was a terrifying prospect.

And _that_ was one thing that absolutely could not happen. "We've cut the power, so this thing is running off of itself now." Her mathematical mind paged through any number of things that could have caused the Tesseract to turn on, coming up blank. The only thing that she could think of was tampering from… the other side of space. Frick.

She'd agreed to work on this project on the basis that the Tesseract was pure, unlimited energy, and that was a potential she could not ignore, especially in her concentrated efforts to create her own wormhole so that she could finally, _finally_ bring Thor back. And all of her possible design sketches she'd worked up required massive, massive, _massive_ amounts of energy. Like, more energy than could be produced by human means. Even Tony Stark's famed Arc reactor wouldn't be able to generate nearly incalculable amounts of energy.

With the Tesseract, she'd hoped her problems would be over after she finally found what made this blasted cube tick. As it turned out, the thing was just plain frustrating. It seemed as if the thing was purposefully screwing with her. When those interesting thoughts entered her brain, she would become concerned for her sanity. Again. Her obsession with finding Thor often had her mind spinning with doubts. Doubts if they even had _something_, doubts if he even wanted to come back, doubts if he was even _alive_. The list of possibilities of why he hadn't returned yet tumbled through her mind whenever she stopped _thinking._ Nighttime was the worst.

At that moment, Director Nick Fury entered the room. Double crap."Hello there, Director." Her voice was flat.

"Doctor, what is going on?"

She glanced up away from the screen, seeing the stony face of the SHIELD director staring her down. She swallowed briefly, not quite nervous yet, as she strode out to meet the man with the Pirates of the Caribbean eye patch. "The Tesseract is… not cooperating."

"Is that supposed to be funny?"

Yikes. "That's actually the most apt description I can give you. It's… behaving. We turn off the power, it turns it back on."

"How soon can you pull the plug?"

"The Tesseract is a power source. You can't exactly get it to shut itself off, Director, and if it reaches peak level-"

"We prepared for this, Dr. Foster," Fury interrupts, well aware of the ramifications, "Harnessing energy from space."

Jane sighed, "I could try, but since my algorithms aren't complete, there's no telling what might happen. We could blow this joint to Asgard if we're not careful."

Foster was one of the few who casually acknowledged the existence of the other 'realms' as she'd once said they were called. The other scientists were still tentative in grasping the idea of other living beings out there, some quite hostile. But many refused to outright disagree with her since Jane was the head researcher on the project. Phase Two was their way of combating that. Dr. Foster was very hesitant on that part of the project, constantly saying that SHIELD can only use the weapons if they were invaded by another realm, and not on other human beings. She'd made them sign a legally-binding document that made sure they could not use her calculations in a war with another nation on Earth. Or Midgard, as Fury remembered that she'd so gleefully joked to many people's discomfort.

She tucked a pen behind her ear, "It's throwing off some radiation interference. Just low-levels of gamma rays."

Fury gave her a pointed look, "That can be harmful."

She would've chuckled if the situation were not becoming exponentially more dangerous, "No shit, Sherlock," but she waved a hand, "it's dissipating too quickly to do any real damage." She headed back to the data collecting station, behind a computer screen where she would fruitlessly search for an answer.

"Understood," Fury said, and glanced around, noticing the absence of one of his most trusted agents. "Where's Agent Barton?"

Jane didn't even have to look around for the reclusive SHIELD agent as she ventured over to where the Tesseract was being held. "As usual, the Hawk's up in his nest." Fury called Hawkeye down from his post, and the two walked out of Jane's earshot. She was glad, since distractions were pretty detrimental to her fixing of this thing. If it even could be fixed. Which she was beginning to doubt as she gently tried to prod the cube with an electrical probe. She felt the jolt and immediately yanked back. This thing had created its own energy-force field. Cool didn't even begin to describe that statement. She couldn't allow herself to get excited however, as her concern began to grow at the possibility of this thing going critical. She paced in front of the cube for a few minutes, occasionally writing down a few observations on a clipboard.

She set it down on one of the desks and looked around or a lab assistant. She had an idea she needed to bounce off someone. "Can we check the relays? If we overload the circuits, it might give us enough time to figure out-"

Her sentence was left unfinished as the glow of the blue cube intensified. "What the hell?" Crap. Crap, crap, _crap_. "Everyone get back!" Jane shouted, shoving her assistants off the platform. Not that a few feet would do them much good. She rushed to one of the computers, seeing that the energy was off the charts. Literally. The program was crawling, trying to handle the influx of readings.

She heard a tremendous noise, like the most bizarre tearing sound she'd ever heard, looked up to see a blue stream of light, creating what looked like a shimmering doorway to somewhere in outer space.

The theoretical physicist in her swooned.

An Einstein-Rosen bridge. She _finally _had one.

She couldn't help the thrilled grin that spread across her face._ Success. _She could taste the wonderful feeling on the back of her tongue.

She could only hope that the data was being recorded so that she could replicate it later on. She _had the data._ The fact that she had it thrilled her to the toes, that she had _almost_ everything she needed to bring Thor back. Her heart fluttered excitedly at the thought of seeing tall, blond, and dangerous (as Darcy had so succinctly named him) again.

Her mind was so awhirl with what this meant to her research, she barely noticed the black and blue-clad figure coalescing from the window.

As suddenly as it had happened, the window closed, and the Tesseract let off a wave of intense blue energy that made Jane's hair whip around her face, and wash over the rest of the SHIELD employees. She didn't miss the blue energy rise, gathering at the apex of the massive dome above them. Jane marveled at the swirling mass of blue as it roiled, curling and dipping with no detectable pattern. She was seeing energy. _Seeing_ it. Absolutely unheard of. A demonstration of the physical properties of energy. She felt another science swoon coming on.

Her eyes snap to the figure that appeared on the platform. Not only was that an Einstein-Rosen bridge, but something, no, _someone_, had crossed it. She prayed again that the computer had recorded the data. Her mood was in the clouds. Her research had been advanced _years_ in the matter of forty five seconds. Her eyes flicked away from the figure (she still wasn't exactly absorbing the ramifications of what was happening on the platform) and to the computer screen. Elation when she realized that she had all the data.

She looked back up only to wish that she hadn't.

The figure rises slowly, and for the first time in a long time, true and complete fear grips her as she sees the man's terrifying expression. She forgot all the physics. Whoever this was, they were clearly not friendly. Cold aqua-green eyes. Dark, shoulder length hair. Long, lean build. Angled features, sharp nose and chin. _Who the hell is that?_ Questions race through her mind, but her body is paralyzed with the uncertain fear. In fact, his eyes were filled with such coldness she felt fear thrill up her spine.

"Sir, please put down the spear."

Fury's command seemed to go absolutely unheard. The man contemplates it briefly, the glowing staff in his hand, before looking back up at the SHIELD agents currently cornering him. With a quick gesture of his hands, a pulse of blue that looks scarily alike what was just released from the Tesseract blasts several SHIELD agents.

Chaos.

There are people firing at him, and the bullets bounce off of him as he takes down more agents. Jane was in motion by then, her breath coming in quick pants as she desperately tries to get as much data off of the computers as possible. What she was going to do afterwards is a little more fuzzy. Run with it? Probably not with those glowing pulses taking down man after man. She wouldn't get five feet.

She watches as Barton leaps at the man who'd just entered their realm, obviously trying to subdue him. He's stopped, almost effortlessly, and that scares her a lot. She'd seen Hawkeye fight once or twice and she'd never seen him just... _stopped._ "You have heart." His voice is soft, calm, made it all the more cold and terrifying. His accent sounded so much like Thor's she felt a pang in her chest. The nostalgia was forgotten as she felt panic rise in her gut as she saw him raise his spear, preparing herself to see it driven through Agent Barton's chest. Despite his aloof, reclusive persona, she liked the man. Instead, the tip was delicately placed against Barton's chest, and she saw a flicker of the blue energy sink into him, flickering up his body to his eyes, where the pupil dilated much farther than physically possible, and then changed from his normal gray to unnaturally pale blue. Barton holstered his gun, standing at attention to this man as though he were awaiting orders. _What the hell is going on?_

"Please don't. I still need that." Her focus is averted from where Hawkeye is still standing stock still, eyes trained on the man who'd just killed nearly all of the security, to the platform. She sees the Tesseract is no longer on it, and Fury is holding the briefcase that she knows has the technology to safely hold the cube.

"This doesn't have to get any messier." She recognizes Fury's 'try-to-diffuse-the-hopeless-situation' tone.

"Of course it does. I've come too far for anything else. I am Loki of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose-"

Paying no mind to the fact that she was interrupting him, she couldn't stop herself from saying, "Loki? You're Thor's brother." She remembered Thor's words about his brother, traded between them as they discussed their families after the Asgardian had explained Yggdrasil to her, _He's one of my best friends, but we are polar opposites._ She could see why. Loki's slim build and narrow features were in sharp contrast to Thor's broad body and strong facial features. The physical was only the beginning. Thor's presence was one of warmth, sans the blustering and egotism, and could take command of a room's attention by only breathing. Meanwhile, his brother's presence was almost small. Not exactly small, just... _elusive._ And cold. Very, very cold.

Her words drew his attention to her. His eyes flaming ice, a twisted smile creeped across his face, as if he'd just lain eyes on an unexpected prize. "And you must be the mortal harlot that has so ensnared my brother's lustful attention. Jane, isn't it?"

She swallowed thickly. She didn't know how to respond, and tried to not let the words _lustful attention_ get to her. Fury responded for her, "We have no quarrel with your people."

Loki turned from Jane slightly, but still made his way slowly towards her. Her joints were locked. "An ant has no quarrel with a boot," Loki suggests nonchalantly, and she didn't miss an underscore of delightful superiority to his words. He turned back to Jane, carnal smile wetting his lips, "I could not have planned this better. Ah, the opportunity in coincidence."

She didn't understand his words, "What are you talking about? What the hell are you doing here?"

"I come with glad tidings," the Jotun brother of Thor said, as though everyone in the room should be as thrilled as he, "of a world made free."

"Free from what?" Fury asked. His voice was colored with an emotion of the same name.

His response implied that the answer was utterly simple. "Freedom. Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that, in your heart-" he whirled to Jane, and places the tip of his staff against her chest.

She only felt a moment of panic before she felt a cool hand cradle her, sweeping away her ethical inhibitions, and she knew then that she had to help Loki, and sweeping away any thoughts of helping _Thor_. Thor, who'd betrayed the man who'd shown her how to validate her research. Who had promised her that he _would return_ but he didn't. For all she knew, she was just a fun fling for him. Meanwhile, here was his brother, offering her every single thing she'd striven to prove her entire life. To hell with the man she'd known for a week. She could feel exactly what Loki wanted of her, how righteous he was in his purpose. The freedom, the truth she experienced was liberating.

"You will know peace."

There was Fury's voice again, and Jane remembered that he had the Tesseract. She needed it to help Loki. "Yeah, you say peace. I kinda think that you mean the other thing."

Barton finally spoke after his lengthy silence, pacing over to Loki, "Sir, Director Fury is stalling. This place is about to blow and drop a hundred feet of rock on us. He means to bury us."

Fury stared hard at Barton, obviously trying to figure what _the fuck _had happened to his most trusted agent.

Loki seemed amused. "Like the pharaohs of old."

Jane cast a nervous glance at the rolling, waving mass of energy that was becoming progressively more tumultuous. It didn't take a theoretical physicist to take a gander at what would happen next. The estimated time was another matter, but she easily calculated it. "The portal has inverted and is collapsing in on itself. We've got about two minutes before the shit hits the fan." She looked up at Loki, "This thing might go critical before we can get out."

Loki doesn't argue with her conclusion. "Well then." With only the barest of gestures from their new-found leader, Barton whipped out his sidearm, and nailed Fury in the chest. Jane didn't react. Loki's staff had made her _see_ that his way was right, and Fury was standing in the way. She wouldn't mourn the SHIELD director. He lacked the idealistic vision of Loki.

Hawkeye snagged the case which Fury had dropped when the SHIELD sniper had taken him out, and turned to exit the laboratory. Jane followed, wanting to stay close to the object that had validated her entire life's work. Tremors shook the base, and Jane places a hand on the wall to steady herself."We've got to move faster," she declared, urgency rising in her gut.

Barton picked up the pace, navigating the halls of the base like it was his own home. The tremors were increasing in frequency and force.

She followed the two men out of what was essentially SHIELD's basement, and got to the parking garage. Jane saw Maria Hill there, obviously trying to get the last of the agents out of the base. She turned to their motley crew, and her eyes were drawn to Loki. "Who's that?"

Barton didn't answer a moment. Jane took the Tesseract from Barton as they headed for one of the SHIELD pickups. "He didn't tell me."

Jane got into the vehicle cab, placing the case on her lap.

Barton was headed for the driver's seat when Hill's radio crackled to life, "_Hill do you copy? Barton- has turned._" She thought that the voice sounded like Fury. A rain of gunfire follows, and she saw Hill dive behind a wall. She distantly realizes she's never seen Hawkeye miss so many times before. She doesn't think about it now. The only thing she could think of is that she hoped they got away soon because she knew the base was probably coming down soon.

"Hurry the hell up, Barton, unless you have a thing for getting buried alive."

"Got it." Despite not hitting Hill even once, Barton slid into the driver's seat, and gunned the engine. They took off speeding through the underground tunnel that would lead them out of the facility.

Jane tugged the silvery case closer to her chest as Hawkeye edged the pickup over 80 miles per hour. She heard another hail of gunfire, and she turned out of sheer curiosity to see that they were being run down by more SHIELD agents.

She saw that it was of no consequence as Loki fired off another blast from that glowing staff of his, effectively demolishing two wheels of the vehicle, making it flip into the other pursuers. She didn't rejoice in the loss of life. Jane hated violence, but now... suddenly it all seemed logical. Logical, and even necessary. They were preventing Loki from completing his plan. She couldn't quite figure out what the entire plan was, but she knew that she had to build Loki an Einstein-Rosen bridge.

So, with a deep breath, she turned back to the road in front of them. They were nearing the end of the tunnel, the seemingly endless nighttime desert stretching out before them. Jane could even smell the sage and cacti through the ventilation in the cab. She then heard a massive sound- crashing, moaning, breaking, smashing, just plain _explosions_ rocking through her. She could feel the vibrations through her entire body, like feeling the bass of an intensely cranked up song on the radio, times about thirty thousand.

For a panicked moment, she thought they weren't going to make it. Alas, they were soon under the broad, dark blue sky instead of the imploding tunnel of SHIELD headquarters. The moon watches as the explosion pulls the base into the depths of the earth.

Jane allowed herself to think they were in the clear, she had her cube and her research. She was content as far as she was concerned until she heard the unmistakable _thwump-thwump-thwump_ of whirring helicopter blades.

Out of some strange fright, she tucked the case holding the Tesseract underneath the dashboard. Barton was still driving with a one-track focus, his now-blue, steeled eyes slicing into the darkness. His face was perfectly blank.

Jane leaned her head out the widow, unhindered by any thoughts of personal safety. She watched Nick Fury, still standing and very much alive, nearly hanging out of the chopper. He was squeezing off rounds at the car, and for the first time she ducked behind the protective roof of the truck, hearing bullets skim off the black surface.

The shooting didn't last long. Loki fired another blast from that scepter of his, taking out the rear blades. The craft spun out of control, getting closer and closer to the unforgiving desert floor. She ducked back inside the cab to watch as Fury leaped from the dying helicopter, tucking and rolling himself in a way that seems entirely too graceful for someone his age and size. Jane found herself thinking that it was probably mostly luck.

There was not a lot of doubt in her mind that they'd escaped. Honestly, the pursuers hadn't been much of a concern to her through the duration of their insane race through the base. She didn't really know why. Her emotional centers seemed dulled, unreachable. She'd mull over it later, she decided, as the truck's wheels churned through the thin desert sand, and silence permeates the air.

**Please leave a review! If you want to see something in particular, let me know. If you absolutely hate it, let me know. If you like it, let me know. A few words can mean the world :) Keep in mind this chapter was pretty basic, and things will get different from here on out.**


	2. Shatter

**Summary:** Thor learns of Loki's trickery on Earth, Odin withholds details, and Jane is lost in the fog Loki has put her in.

**AN1: **Thanks so much for the response to this story! I love you all who have favorited, alerted, and especially reviewed. I never expected such a big response!

**AN2:** I will do my best to update as much as possible until school starts, but I take my time on my chapters to make sure they're excellent before I post. But, real life is really in the way at the moment, with sports and summer homework, so please be patient with me. I will do my best!

**AN2:** Chapter two here still follows pretty close to the movie, but we get to see some things that we didn't in the movie.

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The last time he'd seen Heimdall, the ancient, all-seeing Gatekeeper of Asgard had informed him that Jane was still working to understand the Tesseract.

His father had told he and Loki the story of how the Tesseract was lost, when they were just small children. Thor had no memories of it, but the stories were enough to fill his mind with enough images of the Cosmic Cube. Odin's descriptions had painted a picture of an all-powerful cube, nearly limitless energy that could be controlled by no one but Odin himself. It truly was the jewel of Odin's relics, and it's power had made it possible to build to multicolored crystal rainbow bridge and the spectacular marvel of engineering, the Bifrost. It had been several years since Asgard still dabbled with the primitive humans of Midgard, the Cube had mysteriously gone missing. No evidence whatsoever. As if it glowing blue entity had simply vanished from the Relics vault. Odin had searched all the nine realms, picking through them with a fine-tooth comb, as Thor's father had described many times, but the Tesseract had never been found. Thor hadn't paid much attention to the story as a child, more interested in hearing of the glorious battles against Jotunheim, and Loki had been the one who'd wanted to hear the story of the disappearing Tesseract again and again.

Loki. The name stabbed through him, and a lifetime of happy memories conflicted with the final violent days of his brother. Odin had later told him Loki's true origins, that he was indeed a Jotun, the son of Laufey. It had shocked Thor, indeed, but it didn't change the fact that Loki had always been his little brother and his best friend. It made his betrayal and death all the more scarring.

The prince of Asgard leaned his broad torso against a marble railing on a balcony of the Palace. At one point in his life, he'd thought there was none a grander sight than Asgard in the sunlight. The sleek, golden buildings that soar upwards into the sky, the stone relics that still stood from generations passed, the iridescent sea which the glimmering rainbow bridge crossed, to the now-shattered end where the Bifrost once lay.

His fingers danced across the flawless, shining surface, as he found yet again that the horizon of Asgard seemed dull and lifeless compared to the beauty of Jane's smiling, laughing face. Of her look of determination as she drove her transportation contraption to where Mjolnir had crashed into the desert, and her flat response to his inquiry _They've stolen my entire life's work. I don't have much left to lose._ The faith she'd shown by letting him just walk on into the SHIELD facility to retrieve her research, back when he was so full of himself he was sure Mjolnir would recognize him. The look of curiosity and wonder on her face as he drew all the Nine Realms in her notebook, that he knew then that she could never physically show her. She was beautiful, not just physically (and he could swear that there was not a finer creature in any of the nine realms.) She took him in when he had nothing despite thinking that he was rather bizarre. She had been unfailingly kind to him, even when he was demanding and had an ego the size of Yggdrasil.

He thinks of her often, his Jane (and he wasn't sure when he'd started to consider her _his_) as well as Midgard, the beautiful little planet he'd seen so little of and fallen in love with as surely as he had the woman who had sheltered him. And despite their rather short courtship, Thor knew without a doubt that he loved her. Oh, how he loved her.

And he missed her so much it made him think having his heart torn out for all of Asgard to see may have been better punishment. At one point, Earth was his prison, a cage that would keep him from his home. Now his home was the cage, and Earth the unattainable goal.

He heard the doors open behind him, and Thor only spared the barest of glances at Lady Sif, gilded in white and red, coming through the doors. "It is unwise to be in my company now, my friend."

Sif only smirked, and proceeded to copy his position leaning against the railing. Her dark hair was pulled up in an elegant twist, exposing her shoulders and neck. Thor had always thought his female warrior friend was beautiful, but their love was never anything but platonic. They were like siblings, bickering, trying to one-up the other in battles and in sparring, and so on. "I'm well aware."

Not long after he'd returned to Asgard, it became evident how deeply he missed Jane, sinking into new depths of depression after he lost both Jane and Loki in a one-two knockout punch. Frigga, concerned at how despondent her oldest son had grown, had tried to pair him with Lady Sif, saying that Asgard would one day need a queen. Sif had been as mortified as he, and the two had vehemently refused to court the other. Frigga had been disappointed, but not surprised. (_"I cannot forget Jane, Mother. I... I love her." Frigga only smiled sadly, placing an understanding hand on her son's cheek. "I know, my son. I know."_)

"Did you have something you needed?" Thor asked, impatience seeping into his voice. He didn't mean to be so testy, but he couldn't help himself. It was a moment when he wished to be only with himself.

The relative levity of the moment evaporated in an instant as Sif hesitated minutely. Had he not known her so well, he would not have noticed. "Sif?" He was concerned now. "What is happening?"

"The Allfather must speak to you. Urgently."

The oddity was what struck him first. Why would his father send for him with Sif rather than one of the guards? And her hesitation... only when something big was happening would that happen. Then came the worry.

Sif was known for a dangerous blank face. Many a time she'd beaten the Warriors Three at various card games with that face. And yet she'd broken. Why? She obviously knew something that he did not.

"Sif, what has happened?" Thor asked again. Concern was raising in his gut. he was running through a mental list of the possibilities. Jotunheim? Without the Bifrost, they could not directly send ambassadors, but relations between the two realms had been slowly stabilizing since Laufey's death had signified the death of the grudge against Asgard. Despite Loki's treachery and involvement in the near-destruction of their planet, things had been getting better. At least as far as Thor knew. Asgard hadn't had any recent problems with the other realms... except for... Thor's heartbeat began to quicken. _Please don't say it. Please don't say it..._

She bit her lip. Another nervous tell he rarely saw. "There are... problems on Midgard."

And with that, he was gone.

He paced into the throne room with unfettered intensity and purpose. "Father, what of Midgard?"

Odin was seated on the throne, seeming more weathered and old than Thor had ever seen him. Thor was then standing in front for the throne, on one knee in greeting to his king before standing. That was when he noticed a crate full of Loki's belongings seated next to the throne.

Thor swallowed, trying to ignore the box but something told him it will be integral to his task at hand. Even the sight of Loki's most precious things makes the mournfulness return, burning the back of his throat and his eyes.

Odin's next two words nearly take Thor's legs from beneath him. "Loki lives."

He could not have felt more cold had he been stabbed by an ice dagger of the Jotuns. "Wh-what?" Loki... alive? How could it be? Thor had _seen_ Loki fall, letting go of his staff only to be swallowed up by the Void. The look of emptiness, of brokenness and something akin to acceptance in Loki's eyes. As Thor knew it, it was an abyss, a never-ending stream of space that no creature, immortal or otherwise, could ever survive. Evidently, that was not completely true.

Odin finally stood to meet his son, leaning heavily on his staff to do so. "Your brother seeks to control Midgard." This time, Thor was almost convinced he would collapse. Caught up in his own grief, he almost doesn't notice Odin's own anguish at admitting what Loki's was planning to do. "Moments ago, he stole the Tesseract."

This time, his knees buckled, and he fell to his knees. The story, he was always _so obsessed_ with the story of the missing cube... "What of the Midgardians guarding the Tesseract?" _Jane._ An entirely new wave of horror rolled through him. Those hatefully hissed words in the heated intensity of the moment just before battle breaks out, _After I'm done here, perhaps I'll pay her a visit._ He wants to wretch, and pure, unadulterated fear clenches in his stomach.

Odin stroked his beard in contemplation, worry evident in his wizened features. "Loki has shielded them from our view." Odin felt a small shard of guilt knife his soul. He did not want to lie to Thor. Odin, through Heimdall, had seen what had happened to the lovely Jane, but he needed very badly for his son to remain objective. Inasmuch as he could when dealing with the estranged Loki. Adding to the stress by telling his son that the mortal he obviously loved was under Loki's influence... it might break Thor. He couldn't have that happen.

And, Odin knew exactly why his adopted son had not made even the slightest attempt to disguise his malevolent efforts on Midgard. Loki wished for them to _see._ Wanted his adopted family to know _exactly_ what he was capable of, the wrath of the supposedly scorned son. Those pained words, screamed by an emotionally traumatized boy rather than his grown son echoed in Odin's mind every day. _I could've done it father! I could've done it!_

Meanwhile, he could tell his other son was grappling with many things, conflict storming in his blue eyes, as he stood up. "My son, you must go to Midgard, capture Loki and reclaim the Tesseract."

Thor wanted to snort. He made it sound so simple. But something gave him pause. "There is another way into Midgard?" He couldn't keep the curiosity straining from his tone. If there was a way into Midgard, why had Odin kept it from him? He felt a sudden rush of annoyance and an even larger flare of anger.

Odin nodded, not oblivious to his son's emotions, and quickly quelling them, "There is, but it is a dark, dangerous path that should only be used under the most dire of circumstances." Thor was about to summon Mjolnir to his hand, ready to take on any challenge that may be keeping him from Midgard, from Jane and his brother, but Odin held up a calming hand, "Peace, my son. It is not a physical path I speak of."

Thor's only response was to shoot his father an impatient look. Riddles really wore on the God of Thunder, and the recent revelations had knocked away most of his recently garnered patience.

"You are familiar with dark energy, I assume?"

Shock crossed Thor's face. How could his father be suggesting such a thing? "The Infinity Gauntlet? But Father, to wield the Gauntlet is to beg for the gates of Valhalla!"

The Gauntlet was a mystical artifact, a metallic glove, fitted with the Six Infinity Gems: Time, Space, Mind, Soul, Reality, and Power. The Gauntlet had almost as much power as the Tesseract with the power to bend almost any aspect of the universe to your will. Thor didn't know the Gauntlet's origins, but Odin had told him enough, that it was dangerous, and did not belong in the hands of anyone who could use its power for evil and corruption. And he also knew of the risks of using the Gauntlet. Thor would think those would be enough of a deterrent for anyone considering using it, which was why he was so aghast at Odin even _suggesting_ use of the Gauntlet.

Odin could only smirk, wry and tired, as he said, "I did say the path was dark and dangerous."

A lump raised in Thor's throat. "Father, I will not ask you to give up your life to send me to Midgard."

"The Odinsleep may protect me. Whether I will wake is a dubious matter," Odin suggested, and Thor realized that his father had thought it over, and knew that the Allfather would not be taking 'no' for an answer.

There was a pause after that. Thor is stuck in a moral imbroglio. Save Midgard, kill his father. Save his father, abandon Midgard. _Abandon Jane_. He gritted his teeth, and felt the burn at the back of his eyes again, the source much different. He felt frozen. His joints were locked, his jaw tight, eyes clenched shut.

Odin placed an understanding hand on his son's shoulder. "Do not protest, Thor. I've made my decision. You must look through Loki's belongings, and attempt to ascertain his plans. Prepare for your journey. I have things I must take care of."

* * *

"It has to be able to block the cube's unique energy and radiation signature. Thick concrete or brick would do. Underground is even better."

The trio was no longer driving in the stolen SHIELD vehicle. They'd had to ditch it as soon as they could. Barton informed them that if they kept driving it, SHIELD could track them down easily. He casually mentioned all of the vehicles being outfitted with tracking equipment, and Loki had 'charmed' some unfortunate trucker at a rest stop to drive the truck to Canada, and put SHIELD off their tails for at least a little while. "If Fury doesn't figure it out, Natasha will," Barton had said.

They were now blazing along a remote highway through the Rockies. Jane had brought up the idea of a plane, but Hawkeye, being the super-spy that he is, had quickly nixed the idea, saying that they couldn't take any form of transportation that could be tracked. The car was nothing fancy, a recent-model Chevy truck with four-wheel drive, which they had 'borrowed' from the same man who was now driving their SHIELD truck towards Vancouver. He probably wouldn't make it, as SHIELD would find it very soon. Jane can't feel the sympathy that would normally fill her, viewing him as only collateral damage. Her mind warred with Loki's magic and quickly lost.

Jane was getting down to business now, and she'd gotten out one of her notebooks, filled with complex theoretical physics equations, laid out on top of the case which contained the Tesseract. She chewed the tip of her pen- a horrible habit she'd developed while she was thinking- and realized that now, with Loki's clarity, she could _finally_ start to understand the Tesseract.

Barton seemed to toss her words around in his head a few moments before saying, "I know a place." That was all he said.

"Care to share?"

Barton didn't look away from the road as he said, "Old, abandoned building in northern Germany. The basement meets your requirements."

Concerned for the safety of her project, Jane asked, "Is the building tied to SHIELD?"

Barton shook his head. "Went there on a mission once. Had to lay low somewhere before I continued to follow the target."

"Who was the target?" she asked out of innocent curiosity.

Barton didn't answer, and Jane decided wisely to not ask again. The haunted look on his face and the dimming blue eyes told her to not ask. "We'll need an unregistered plane," he said instead, turning her attention back to the matter at hand.

"If we could stop somewhere that I could do my research, I could just _beam _us over there," Jane muttered quietly. After that, silence reigns. Loki hadn't said anything since the base. Barton had been directing them, keeping them off the radar, and Jane almost wonders if Loki is _in there_, in Barton's head, just using his knowledge. She didn't know, and hoped that wasn't true. She didn't want Loki messing with her research in her brain.

The trees and the mountains fly by, their tops dusted in snow, and a sentient Jane would've been thinking of Thor. But now, as the magic of Loki shields her brain from such thoughts, focusing only on creating a stable wormhole for the man who'd given her validation for her entire life's work.

**The Infinity Gauntlet was a bit of the comic element I decided to add on the premise of the whole 'dark energy' thing that I was stuck on trying to write. I've changed a few things from the comic-verse to fit with the movie storyline. And, you do see a breif glimpse of the Gauntlet in the Thor movie in the weapons vault.  
**

**This was a bit of a filler chapter, but I wanted to get something up for my lovely reviewers! :D Please keep reviewing!  
**

**FYI: I have a tumblr wherein I post chapter previews, alternate scenes, etc. so if you want a little something extra, there's a link to it on my profile. There's not much on it at the moment since I've just started it, but there will be soon!  
**

**Chapter 3** **Preview: **As Jane begins to explain the inexplicable, Thor prepares for his journey to Earth. Loki plots vengeance on his brother using the best leverage he has- Jane.


	3. Clarity

**Summary:** As Jane begins to explain the inexplicable, Thor prepares for his journey to Earth. Meanwhile, Loki plots vengeance on his brother using the best leverage he has- Jane.

**AN1: **Not as many reviews this time around, but that's okay. I wasn't really expecting it, but it certainly helps in the inspiration business. I'm also considering either making this story an Avengers fic to get more hits, or as a Thor & Avengers crossover. Greedy of me, maybe. Or I might just let it be. You never know ;)

**AN2:** History of Asgardian battles has been made up by me, and has a little bit of Norse mythology inspiration behind it, but yeah, you won't find it on Wikipedia.

The basement was as musty and sad as the SHIELD basement, but with tunnels and brick arches. It was as remote as Hawkeye had said it would be, nestled deep in some strange-named German forest that Jane couldn't remember. All she knew was that the only access was a dirt path she wasn't sure was ever meant for motor vehicles, and that the building parameters would protect the Tesseract from the probing eyes of SHIELD. The building had the look of a large warehouse on the top floor, and by Jane's estimation, was probably used by the Nazis during World War II, considering the decaying parchments she'd seen scattered on the floor defaming the Jews and exalting Adolf Hitler.

Loki had picked up one of the crumbling leaflets, looking over the once-dictator of Germany and architect of the Holocaust. His face was blank and unfeeling, and Jane was uncertain as to whether or not he even knew who this man was. She decided to stay quiet as she watched him crush the paper in his palm and throw it back to the dusty floor.

Barton had then directed them to the basement, where she'd spent the better part of three days setting up her temporary lab. With Loki's magic and Hawkeye's connections, the lab was filled with the best of the best equipment, and she was no longer limited by government protocol or ethical restraint. Back when she'd first started researching wormholes, she'd wondered if she should even bother. Not only was she ridiculed by the science community before she'd published the Foster Theory, and even before the jests at her physics career, she'd done quite a bit of wondering if she should even look into worm holes. If they existed, and if she should even let the human race know about them. There always seemed to be a way to weaponize any discovery, and she didn't want anyone's blood on her hands... and Jane didn't want to play God. Her parents had been agnostic, but in her studies, she'd come to the conclusion that there must be some sort of... entity responsible. (The concept of the 'fine-tuned universe' had truly convinced her. The fundamental physical constants were just far too precise to assume they 'just so happened' upon themselves.) Not everything in the universe was calculable and predictable, which suggested a higher power. She didn't name it, or call it God or Allah or Yahweh. It was just there, and Jane had no intention of trying to take the universe into her hands. At least, she didn't before. Now, those ethical protests faded in the wake of discovery.

She told Barton that she would need lab assistants, and he said he'd get on it. She swore that man knew everyone on Earth.

But here they were in the dark basement, artificial light beaming from old yellow bulbs and bright white fluorescents. The Tesseract was out of its case, in a device that was similar to what it had been held it at the SHIELD facility. She wasn't performing any tests (she'd need assistants before she did any risky ones) but for some reason she did not understand, the answers were just _coming_ to her, and her equations for harnessing the cube were almost complete. Once she finished them, she could begin the testing phase.

The smile that lit up her features was blinding as she realized how far she'd come in her research in just a matter of a few _days_. She hadn't anticipated getting to the testing phase for her designs for at least five or six years. And she couldn't wait. The validation of her life's work was the only thing on her mind, but something was fluttering in the back of her mind, a _bigger_ reason than simple proof that she'd been right.

Something to do with Thor... She was stonewalled when she tried to search for the answer. Her head snapped up, the wall in her mind obviously foreign. She saw Loki staring at her, and she scowled. She wanted to tell him to stay out of her head, that she needed access to _all parts_ of her mind to do this, and he was just blocking them. Again, Jane waged battle against Loki's magic, against the haze of clarity that coated every inch of her brain like a fine layer of dust. She felt the grip loosen, slide away as if they were taught strands that had just been cut, and for a moment all she felt was relief, clean and purifying, and then she panicked as she felt the clarity, _the answers_, sliding away with it. She needed those answers like the air she breathed, and she didn't know what she would do if she couldn't solve this. _Thor needed her to solve this._ And so, with the strength with which she'd fought his hold, she desperately clamored to get it back, and soon felt the haze resettle. And as it wrapped itself around her once more, thoughts of helping Thor faded so far into the distance, she could no longer discern them. Loki's magic was helping her solve this. She despised it, but she needed him. With a deep breath and closed eyes she tried to calm herself and looked back down at her work.

Loki would've sneered at Jane's attempt to shake him off, but he was caught off guard by the strength of her resistance. She had a strong mind, this mortal. And he was sure if looks could kill, Jane would be deadly if the cold glare she'd given him was any indication. The fiery little woman had challenged Loki's hold many times, whether she consciously or not. He no longer had his doubts about whether or not humans fight, or even completely break out, of his hold (that Agent Barton was turning out to be more of a nuisance in that area than Jane...) and he realized that as soon as Foster had completed her equation and built her device, she wouldn't need him any longer. It was a laughable suggestion that she could get away. He could constrict his magic around her mind until she was brain dead if he wanted to _and she had no idea_, and that thought made him a bit gleeful. But having Jane _completely_ dead once the Chitauri took the earth... the option appealed to him. String her up in front of the humans, in front of _Thor _and enjoy their fear. He wasn't too proud to admit it would be a waste. She was above average intelligence, was certainly pleasant to look at in terms of physical attractiveness. Perhaps he could _completely _brainwash her, trick her into joining his side (imagine how much _that_ would stick in Thor's craw)... he dismissed the thought. She was but a measly human; an insignificant speck in the grand scheme of things. But she was certainly an interesting specimen. Loki could at least partially understand Thor's strange fascination with their kind.

And Loki wasn't surprised that Jane Foster had caught his cocky and supercilious _adoptive_ (_always creating a distance_) brother's attention. Thor had always been a huge sucker for a pretty face. And a game of cat-and-mouse always was an exciting challenge for the idiotic 'God of Thunder'. This Jane seemed like she would put up a fight if a man would attempt to win her affections.

He found himself wondering if Thor actually loved this mortal, or if she was one of various playthings that he'd shared his bedchamber with over the years. Regardless, Loki would use whatever leverage he had over the man who'd made his life a living hell. All he knew was that it was incredibly clear that the mortal woman was desperately in love with Thor. Pathetic.

He honestly hadn't anticipated seeing that little mortal skank with the Tesseract, but he couldn't have planned it better himself. Now he had the perfect thing to hang right over Thor's head. The possibilities spread before him, a devious grin twisting his face. Rape? Make her think he's Thor and fuck her, only to show her that's it's actually him? Lock her in her own personal nightmare with his magic until she can no longer scream? Make her watch a vision of her own death, of Thor's death, again and again and again? Delicious possibilities.

Something that would truly get under Thor's skin. Vengeance was a dish best served cold, after all.

_Not yet_, he decided as he watched his unwilling slaves do his bidding. He needed her to finish the portal. _Then..._ then he would have some fun with her.

* * *

_"Thor! Thor, help me!"_

_Her voice, echoing from somewhere. Where is she?  
_

_"Indeed, where is she, brother?"  
_

_He hears the voice of Loki, feels the panic when he realized that Loki has her. He has Jane.  
_

_There she is, there is a darkness surrounding her, and there's Loki, holding her up by her hair from behind her. She's bound and gagged, bloody and beaten, tears coming for those beautiful brown eyes. She looks terrified.  
_

_Thor wants to murder Loki. Rend his flesh from his bones, smite him with lightening where he stands, throw his hammer through that damned grinning face of his.  
_

_She doesn't make a sound as Loki drives the sharp end of his staff through her back, the blade appearing out of her chest, dark red blood oozing from the wound. Her death is soundless, and the look of shock and fear on her face rips Thor's heart from his chest.  
_

_She collapses to the floor. And he couldn't save her.  
_

_Loki's scepter is stained maroon with Jane's blood.  
_

_And all Loki can do is smile, and say, "She is doomed, Thor."_

Thor woke with a sharp gasp, and a crick in his neck. He straightened to realize he fell asleep in a wooden chair leaning on a table, going through Loki's many, many books.

Thor felt like slamming his head against a wall. The box hadn't been at all helpful, so he'd been forced to retreat into Loki's library, where thousands of books and scripts lay with no detectable organizational system. The room was octagonal and the walls were completely made of shelves that stretched to the vaulted ceiling. Heavy, luxurious red carpeting seemed fitting for the expansive study, along with the crystal chandelier that hung from the ceiling offering a glimpse into Loki's desire for attention. There was a large wooden table in the center, which Thor was currently occupying.

He was out of his element, and he felt absolutely useless, and that nightmare had shaken him to the core. It all felt so real. _So real_ as he watched the life drain from Jane's eyes.

With the rampant worry of his beloved in mind, he looked back to the book he was poring over. The urge to hit his head on something grew stronger.

This was not his thing. He was the warrior of the two of them, and Loki the magician. While Thor trained and became a solider, Loki fastidiously studied and became a master of magic and trickery. Through his studies over the past few days, he'd learned that his brother had an obsession with realms beyond Yggdrasil. Initially Thor had thought that Loki was looking for information about the hidden Tesseract.

But, as he read over the newest page, a small caption catches his eye.

_The Chitauri- The Dark Army_

_A formidable force of beyond space, commanded by Thanos. Under the promise of a great reward, the army command may change hands at any time if Thanos wishes. The army is fabled to be infinite and invincible. To whit, none have proved the existence of such an army, although the Fables of the Ancient Battles speak of the Chitauri many times._

The Chitauri. Thor's gut told him that they would be important, and so, he goes off searching for the aforementioned _Fables of Ancient Battles._ He wasn't all that surprised when he found it right next to the spot he'd found the book where the caption was.

The book was obviously very old, and the cover was ornamented like those of old, with a wooden cover brandished with ornate golden vines and faceted gemstones of many colors. It had obviously been used relatively recently, as he saw modern signs of repair all along the spine.

He opened the cover, and the first page is the table of contents.

_I. The First Battle  
__II. The Battle of the Dark and the Light  
III. War of Yggdrasil  
IV. War of Ice and Fire  
V. Battle Against Fraudulent Peace  
VI. War of Thanos and the Chitauri_

He didn't look past that chapter, quickly skimmmed through the others for mentions of this Thanos or the Chitauri, and didn't see any until chapter six came up. As he began to read, he realized this book was written a _long_ time ago if the method of writing was any indication. The language itself, and the heavy, calligraphic script and bawdy illustrations that made it look more like a children's book than an educational text.

_O muse, speak of the deeds of Thanos, commander of the Chitauri forces.  
Doubtful, his opponents stand, villainy and anger rampart.  
Sweep, they do, the branches of Yggdrasil burn as they fall.  
Multiply, they do, from a window in the sky, raining to the realms in fire and destruction.__  
Conquer, they do, all the realms in putrid fire.  
Their weapon, a cube of power and blue._

_Conquership, the goal.  
Dictatorship, to be.  
Power, the addictive narcotic.  
Success almost reached, until blocked the Chitauri were by forces greater.  
_

_With courage at the back as a tradewind, the realms gather to repel the evildoers.  
A common enemy the seek, they battle, as they come together like naught before nor since.  
The final battle, fire it is, as the Rebels battle the Empire.  
The winner, crowned they are, and the weapon of blue is lost to the cosmos.  
_

The chapter was a scant three pages, the illustrations taking up the bulk of the paper. The first page depicted a physical Yggdrasil, with twisted, aged bark and branches, but darkened by fire (which the author seemed to have a small obsession with), and he recognized the falling branches as Jotunheim, Midgard, and Alfheim.

The next page depicted a nondescript figure, garbed in a flowing black robe that seemed to meld with the black sky depicted behind the figure. The only standout feature were age-faded ruby red eyes.

The final page was the most faded, and Thor could just barely make out a golden army meeting with a black army in the middle of the page on some unknown battlefield.

He closed the book with much on his mind. He needed to talk to Heimdall. He heard the door to Loki's study open, and saw a stoic guard enter. "Heimdall demands your presence."

He barely remembered the trip from the Palace to the shattered end of the Bridge. The massive, sword-wielding Gatekeeper stood passively as always, and didn't need to look back to see Thor approach. "This force, the Chitauri, is to be Loki's weapon in taking Midgard."

Thor had never been more unhappy to be right. "I knew it," he whispered brokenly. How could Loki do such evil? The man he remembered was his comrade, his best friend, his _brother_ (as he later learned) in all but blood. Now Thor wondered if he'd ever known Loki at all, this vengeful, angry trickster barely even a shadow of what was his younger brother.

"Has he ceased in his shielding of the Tesseract's Midgardian keepers?" The nightmare had only increased his worry of Jane, and rampant paranoia that it had somehow been a vision plagued his mind.

Heimdall's face remained impassive. "Loki still shades Jane from my vision. Whether it be to mislead us, or have a true purpose, I cannot know."

Thor wasn't surprised that the Gatekeeper had seen straight through his question. He tried to refocus himself. He couldn't think selfishly, of only Jane. The people of Midgard needed him. "What of the Chitauri? What are Loki's plans?"

"He's planning on bringing them to Midgard using the Tesseract. I needn't tell you that the humans are not equipped enough to wage war against the Chitauri. This government protector, SHIELD, as they're called, have attempted to use the Tesseract to make weapons to defend themselves, but they are not ready. They've assembled a group of highly-skilled and gifted individuals to try to handle Loki. But they need you, my prince."

Thor had been afraid of that answer. "So there is no way to prevent Odin from needing to use the Gauntlet to send me there?" The aging king would kill himself trying to do it, and the possibility frightened Thor.

"I'm afraid not."

Thor didn't feel any better about the situation. With the certainty that the knowledge he'd garnered today was correct, he knew without a doubt that dark times were ahead for Midgard.

**Things are still a little slow, but this chapter includes some more information and how Thor found out about the Chitauri and all that which was a little strange to me in the movie. Anyone catch the Star Wars reference? I couldn't help myself! ;)  
**

**Chapter 4 Preview:** Loki is almost ready to make his final move, Hawkeye plans the raid on the helicarrier, and Jane begins to struggle through Loki's fog.


	4. Variant

**Summary:** Loki is almost ready to make his final move, and as Jane begins to struggle through Loki's fog, she makes a startling discovery about how to turn off the machine.

**AN1:** Sorry that this is coming slowly, but I've been busy with sports. Also, my story "White" is taking up generous amounts of my writing time. And school has begun yet again (strange how that comes as an afterthought... Ah, glorious priorities.) it's also pretty short, but I wanted to get one out for you. Another chapter is coming soon!

**AN2:** So, physics stuff... Yeah, not my area of expertise, bro. Excuse any errors on my part.

On top of the world would aptly describe Jane Foster at present. She knew, _knew_ without a doubt that her device would work. It was all drawn up in her notebook; where the power cells would carry the energy and radiation from the Tesseract to the amplifier, and she would have a nearly identical portal to the one that had been created beneath SHIELD, but much more stable and perfectly able to remain open for as long as Loki wanted it to be. She still needed a few things but she was so _close_ she could almost _taste_ her success. The thrill of new knowledge was exhilarating, one that she hadn't felt since the bizarre weather patterns, the subtle auroras in the New Mexico sky, that bizarre twister with Darcy and Eric and then... Thor.

The name jumps unbidden into her mind, almost obtrusive and obnoxious with its presence. Loki's spell makes _radiation scans _and _energy calibrations_ seem more important by a hundredfold_._ But there he is again. Thor. A whirlwind of giant grins, cocky swagger, and unexpected chivalry. And his knee-buckling, sweat-inducing, all-consuming attractiveness with the blue eyes and the Patrick Swayze-_Point Break_ blonde hair and the miles of golden skin sheathing rippling muscles and _hell. _Jane wanted to smack him in the too-goddamned-perfect face for taking her mind so far away from her work. Everything became fuzzy then, Thor's face and smile fading like a fogged window.

_Focus on the iridium. The iridium._ That thought promptly snapped Jane back to reality, where her lab assistants were working around her. She spotted Hawkeye on approach past the plastic-clad entryway to her temporary laboratory. "How fares the sea, Captain?" Jane asked in a strange, Hollywood-inspired squall of a pirate.

Hawkeye only smirked briefly at her, and she was proud of herself for getting that much of a reaction. Ignoring her question entirely, he held up a tablet with a close-up photo of the object of her desire (barring any thoughts, of course, of the roguish God of Thunder) and asked, "This the stuff you're looking for?"

Jane nodded vigorously, "Iridium. It's found in meteorites and such and is insanely hard to get your hands on." To see why exotic matter was required, in this instance, the iridium, one would have to consider an incoming light front traveling along geodesics, which then crosses the wormhole and re-expands on the other side. The expansion goes from negative to positive. As the wormhole neck is of finite size, one would not expect caustics to develop, at least within the vicinity of the neck. According to the optical Raychaudhuri's theorem, this requires a violation of the averaged null energy condition. Quantum effects such as the Casimir effect cannot violate the averaged null energy condition in any neighborhood of space with zero curvature, but calculations in semiclassical gravity suggest that quantum effects may be able to violate this condition in curved spacetime. God, Jane loved physics. Jane shot a death glare at one of the lab techs who had casually stopped in their work to look at some of her notes, "Don't be looking that at that, you little punk!" She snatched it up like the world will burn up if she didn't, and slammed it against her chest with her arms crossed over it. The assistant, no more than a spindly kid, really, scurried off, terrified. Jane _almost_ wondered how he got caught up in all of this. Almost.

"Still touchy about people stealing your work, I see," Hawkeye observed nonchalantly. She always wondered how he managed to sound so non-judgmental.

Despite her wondering, she still tossed a glare in Clint's direction, "Call me overprotective. Your pal Coulson made sure of that."

Hawkeye didn't say anything, as per his usual method. Besides, Loki was on approach. Jane hid her grimace at the visage of the tall, pale man, and turned back to her work station, only half listening to Hawkeye and Loki converse. She wanted her iridium, but this was Hawkeye's turf, not hers. She would leave infiltrating impenetrable fortresses up to the professionals.

"Our next target is in Stuttgart."

"What do you need?"

_ My freaking iridium,_ Jane thought sourly. Almost like a petulant child, she wanted it _now. _This shit was no longer theoretical.

She almost thought at the moment she could feel Loki's eyes burning a hole in her back, but she ignored them.

"A distraction. And an eyeball."

* * *

She'd sent her assistants away, and the only sounds surrounding her were irregular drips of water and the scratch of pencil on paper or the metallic ring of prodding the device. She'd long ago learned that she worked best by herself. Antisocial would describe her moderately well. In high school, she hadn't attended a single school dance, football game, or a party. She hadn't had a boyfriend until she was twenty-two. All she did was take AP classes and go to the colleges in the area to take physics courses. She's sure it was bizarre for the fourth year physics majors, some on their way to doctorates, taking classes with a gangly fifteen year old. She'd been called a prodigy more times than she'd cared to in her youth. That all changed when she had her doctorate before her twenty-fourth birthday and decided to research wormholes. Fascinating stuff, and respected in the right channels. The operative phrase being 'right channels.' Most of her research (if not all) had been disregarded before she'd published Foster's Theories on Wormholes. That's when the physics community started to not scoff at her. She knew that SHIELD probably wouldn't let her publish anything else. At least she'd done something before they swooped in. _They're going to do everything they can to make sure this research never sees the light of day._

At least she no longer had to worry about SHIELD suppressing her discoveries.

Loki, Hawkeye and their little team had gone off a few hours earlier, and Jane was puzzling over her machine. Turning the theoretical into the physical was always much more challenging than it seemed. Loki's magic helped (extensively. Who would've thought that she could create her own wormhole in less than a week? No one. She could barely wait to see the looks on the faces of her fellow physicists.) but there was only so much she could do in the time of the day. Now that she thought about it, she couldn't remember when she'd last slept. Or eaten, for that matter.

All personal care aside, Jane knew that small discrepancies would change everything. Down to the hundredth, thousandth, millionth, billionth, trillionth had to be exact. She had the confidence of Loki, but old insecurities of the real Jane Foster were beginning to bleed through.

The device was nearing completion. The Tesseract was within the shining, mostly titanium and lead device, with the radiation amplifiers reaching for the ceiling like six-foot tall blades. She couldn't wait to see it in action, but the jiggle of nerves in her stomach was becoming harder to ignore. Focusing on the work, on the clarity of mind always made it easier to brush away.

She hoped to test, or at least, write out and think out (she had her tactics of how to approach a problem.) one of her strangest theories whilst she was by herself.

How, at the end of the equation, when every variable was solved and every constant canceled, x + x would equal zero. Fascinating, but completely against every single physics law she knew. Groundbreaking, highly theoretical, and so freakishly cool. Her territory exactly.

The energy of the cube plus the energy of the cube would equal zero. _Loki's staff. _In truth, an 'off switch' had not occurred to her until that very moment. Practicality would suggest that turning off the portal would be necessary at some point... So why not build in a feature? She did have a degree in engineering. May as well use it some more.

She would still need her iridium. There was no way to create a stable wormhole without it. Hence the giant collapse at the SHIELD base. Plus, leaving a wormhole open, really and truly open for an indefinite amount of time would lead to catastrophic consequences of epic proportions. Destroy the earth, burrow a massive beam of concentrated radiation energy down to the core of the planet and explode it. Destroy whatever realm Loki was wanting her to open. He'd given her coordinates, that's it. No names. She was surprised the thing hadn't torn a hole in the fabric of space and time the first time Loki crossed through it. Thank goodness. Playing with fire would lead to a burn.

She began to work on altering her design to accommodate a possible switch off. There probably would be no way to test if it would actually work, since she couldn't split the Cube in two, and the only other source would be Loki's staff, which had similar properties to the Tesseract, and there would be no prying that thing out of Loki's grasp.

So this would be a fly-by-night turn off. Hell if she knew if it would work or not. Ignoring the fact that in order for this to work the variables _had to be exact. _If it wasn't well, she'd be absolutely screwed. Maybe even the world would be screwed. Loki was gone, so she began to wonder about the repercussions of her actions. She was opening a freaking wormhole. And if she tried to close it an she wasn't correct... Damn. Shit could happen. A lot of shit.

While Jane normally would've questioned the morality of what she was doing as she grabbed a welder to disengage a few parts of her machine, the Jane who was under the influence of magic only thought, _All in the name of science._

**It's so, so short and I do apologize! This is still exposition before we get to the good stuff! Please leave a review :)  
**

**Chapter 5 Preview****:** Loki shows up in Stuttgart, and Rogers thinks this all feels too planned. Thor makes the journey to Midgard to capture his wayward brother and reclaim the Tesseract, and learns the horrible truth about Jane.


	5. Distortion

**Summary:** Loki shows up in Stuttgart, and Rogers thinks this all feels too planned. Thor makes the journey to Midgard to capture his wayward brother and reclaim the Tesseract, and learns the horrible truth about Jane.

**AN1:** Sorry for the wait! I'm pretty busy, but I hope this makes up for it ;) let me know if you spot any errors! This was typed on a tablet and thus those things are kind of funny with autocorrect and things.

Loki wasn't impressed by many things on Midgard. The humans were a pathetically weak race, their only advantage being their brains, which predictably were almost always focused on power, and how to get more of it. It made them laughably easy to manipulate. The earth itself was falling apart at the seams, mostly due to the rash actions of the stupidest species.

But he could say he was damnably impressed by the music wafting through the pristine stone and marble corridors. Franz Schubert's String Quartet No. 13 in A minor echoed beautifully in the structure, and for only the second time in his time on Midgard, Loki could admit that the humans had done something rather impressive. He almost paused to just listen, but refused to let himself do so.

Meanwhile, as Loki walked with a slow purpose towards the main room, security personnel were dropped one by one with silent arrows piercing the night. And then the time had come. With a ridiculously practiced swing, Loki knocked the maitre d' squarely in the face with the scepter, and chaos breaks loose. The once-king of Asgard allows a heartbeat of remorse as the quartet's strings fall silent, the achingly beautiful strains disappeared. At first, they were outraged, with gaping mouths and high-society cries of _Who on earth let him in? He is ruining a perfectly wonderful party!_

Quickly, their annoyance changed to fear, as Loki found the object of his efforts, and flipped him onto the horribly ostentatious marble oxen table. When he jammed the ocular pattern mimicry device into the victim's eye, and the anguished howls started, that's when they became terrified.

He enjoyed their fear, let it bathe him like cleansing fire and blood, and his subjects scrambled in their mad dash to get away. He knew Agent Barton was now inside the vault, and he left the man writhing in pain, blood pouring from his now useless eye socket and onto the oxen table. Fitting. The blood of man being spilled on the creature which man once sacrificed to their gods. Loki liked the sound of that. A god. Deity. _Perhaps not sacrifices._ He wasn't a barbarian after all. _No, I must think of something much better..._ The next phase of his plan was about to come to fruition, but why not have a little fun first?

He walked out of the building, and the air of Stuttgart was alive with fear. Oh, this would be far too easy. Calling upon his magic, Loki garbed himself in his ceremonial Asgardian armor, rich forest greens and gleaming golds, with the horned helmet coalescing out of nothingness. He strode out towards the awaiting flock, moving about like nervous little animals. He made sure to keep any futile little Midgardian peacekeepers from disrupting this taste of triumph. The police car flipped with a simple blast from the scepter, and Loki knew he wouldn't have to worry about them.

"Kneel before me," he said, standing at the helm of the crowd. They didn't pay him any mind, their panic clouding reason. Stupid mortals. "I said," he began, before creating several astral projections of himself and slamming the end of his staff to the ground. He grinned as the Midgardians shied away from the doppelgangers. "_KNEEL!_" His voice carried over the crowd, and the satisfaction he felt as he watched them drop to their knees like hedge-born foot-lickers thrilled him to the toes. Pathetic didn't even begin to cover what these puny creatures were in his mind.

He began the slow journey of wading through his subjects. "Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity: that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power. For identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel." He felt that delicious power again, and he let it overcome him, spread across his features like wind on sand. The ensuing smile was ruthlessly confident, coldly amused. He had never imagined this quest for power, for vengeance on his adoptive family would lead to such a wonderful sensation of control on such a ludicrous scale; he now did not wonder why his ancestors had once attempted to take the planet-

"Not to men like you."

Loki was drawn away from his introspect, and he sneered at the visage of the old man in his attempt to be defiant. Sagged eyes and a drooping frown could not know how exquisite his plan was, how exquisite this power was. Surely no human could comprehend it. "There are no men like me," he answered assuredly.

The old man's expression did not change. He only replied in knowing, "There are always men like you."

This small act was of no consequence, and the daring, feral grin didn't leave Loki's face. "Look to your elder, people. Let him be an example." With that, he let loose a blast of energy. The old man did not cringe as Loki had hoped he would. Just closed his eyes in acceptance.

And then the energy was flying back at him, and scored a direct hit to his midsection. Loki fell like a ragdoll from the concussion of the blast, as Captain Steve Rogers stood tall amongst the terrified civilians. "You know, the last time I was in Germany, and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing." At the sight of Captain America, decked out with the red, white, and blue and the legendary shield of his, the once petrified party-goers were now slowly standing, alight with curiosity.

"This soldier," Loki chuckled, "a man out of time-"

"I'm not the one who's out of time," Steve said.

Over the Captain's shoulder, the quinjet hovered. A menacing gun dropped from the belly of the machine, and Natasha Romanoff's voice came over the PA system. "Loki, drop the weapon and stand down."

Steve could only guess at what the madman was thinking as he sent a blast towards the jet. Looking at the blue energy, he was almost brought back to a time when it was just him and his team, with Bucky and Peggy and everything is simple because they just have to take down Hydra and Red Skull. Reality set in soon, and he chastised himself for letting his concentration slip. He feared for Agent Romanoff, because he remembered all too well how Hydra's weapons worked, but only for a moment before she easily dodged it. Not wasting Loki's moment of split concentration, the Captain hurled his shield at the would-be dictator.

Loki deflected the flying vibranium shield, but that didn't stop Steve as he retrieved it, and sent a scathing blow across Loki's vulnerable face. The Captain was surprised when Loki recovered as if he'd just been hit by a packet of tissue paper. He just barely parried a few of Loki's strikes before one of them hit home on his lower torso and sent him flying towards the concrete wall.

Never one to stay down for long, Rogers recovered, and spun the shield straight back at Loki. He knew by then that the shield wouldn't hit him, but it was enough of a distraction that he stood and charged. The shield skittered away, and Steve began throwing punches. Without his shield, Loki's scepter was a bigger concern than before, but he dodged each strike. He only managed to land a few blows before the fallen prince of Asgard knocked him down again.

The Captain scrambled onto his hands and knees, knowing he couldn't stay down for long. His motions were halted by the end of Loki's staff pressing into the back of his head.

"Kneel." The words were hissed, condescending to the highest degree.

Rogers gritted his teeth, and quick as a blink, swiped the staff from his head and he was back on his feet. "Not today," he replied, and with a grunt, leaps into a flying roundhouse kick, and felt satisfaction as he felt his foot connect with Loki's face, and the son of Laufey stumbled hard.

Natasha teeth becoming frustrated trying to get a clear shot at Loki. Cap was doing better than she anticipated (I mean, his opponent was a god) but the fighting pair were tossing each other around the area like they each weighed nothing. "Guy's all over the place," she said to herself.

It was then that she heard slight static over the PA system, and the beginning strums of ACDC's "Shoot to Thrill". She knew who it was before he even spoke.

"Agent Romanoff... you miss me?"

Steve was baffled by the music (was that considered music nowadays?) suddenly blasting from the quinjet, but he didn't let it distract him and he shoved Loki back with a punch. He heard the tell-tale hum of Iron Man's thrusters before a ball of white energy pummeled the Asgardian's chest and sent him sprawling.

Steve adjusted his position, and Tony Stark landed next to him. It was all the Captain could do to not gawk at the impressive collection of weaponry that appeared out of nowhere on Stark's suit. "Make a move, Reindeer Games."

Right before their eyes, Loki's armor melted away in a brilliant display of light. Hs hands were raised in a clear surrender. Steve narrowed his eyes slightly, but didn't comment.

"Good move," Tony commented.

"Mr. Stark."

And there he was. The man who so expertly ensnared his father's affections. He didn't let any tension creep into his voice as he greeted, "Captain."

* * *

The splintered crystal hummed beneath their feet, some sort of mystical energy flowing through it. Thor was gritting his teeth, Frigga's characteristic look of maternal concern was permanently writ on her face, Heimdall stood impassively as usual, and Odin was as unreadable as he always was. Thor got the distinct feeling that his father was keeping something from him, but when was Odin _not_ keeping something from him? Something that had bothered him in years past was now met with understanding, if a bit of exasperation. He knew Odin had his reasons.

The worry gnawed at his gut as the small herd of healers fluttered like worried pigeons behind the group. Thor tried his best to ignore them, deathly afraid of what the aftermath of his journey would hold for the Allfather.

Frigga pulled her son aside for a moment. Thor didn't say anything. He could tell when his mother had something on her mind. "My son, please be careful. I have foreseen many serpentine malefactions on Midgard." Frigga's powers of foresight were legendary, and Thor stiffened at her words.

"Can you tell me about these occurrences?"

Frigga shook her head sadly, "Unfortunately my visions have been lacking any form of specificity... Just be sure to have a care."

"I will, mother." He could tell she was holding something back. "What is it?"

"I worry of Loki."

"We all do," he replied stiffly.

Frigga swallowed heavily, "I know. But... whatever happens on Midgard, whatever trials you may face, whatever wrongs Loki has committed, do not forget that he was once your brother. He still is your brother, but he is lost. I recall a wise Midgardian who once proclaimed that not until we are completely lost do we begin to find our way back."

Thor focused more intently on Frigga. "Do you know something I do not?"

Her lips were pressed into a line, and answered a bit facetiously, "I know many things you do not, Thor." She paused before saying, "No matter his true heritage, he is family. Please bear that in mind with whatever lies on your path."

She then pulled her eldest son close and he responded in kind; with her arms wrapped around him, he could almost imagine that he was still a boy, that he and Loki were still the best of friends having adventures as all brothers do._ Where did we go so wrong?_

His mother brought him out of his reverie by saying, "And please understand that any of Odin's actions have been taken for the benefit of you, and Midgard as a whole. Please know this." Her voice was quiet, pleading in the maternal way that made Thor's heart weep.

Before he could further inquire, Odin's deep voice interrupted the train of thought. "We are ready to begin."

The Gauntlet was pulsing, the air around it warping and bending, and Thor felt nausea raising as he imagined what it would do to his father.

The onlookers stepped back at Odin's command. Thor faced the baffling black and purple of Asgard's end, his back facing the shining city, and the grim faces of those who would see him off. "I am sending you to Loki's exact location," came Odin's voice, "Bring both he and the Tesseract back to Asgard." Odin paused, and in a fatherly tone Thor rarely heard anymore from Odin, said, "Please be safe."

The Gauntlet was making ethereal sounds, buzzing and bending. Suddenly he felt the buzzing and bending his his ears, and then it began to ache and hurt, and then in buzzed into his head, and he almost brought his hands up to his temples to try to take the pain away, but he couldn't. He felt as if his hands were bound to his sides, and then the pain is everywhere and it felt like he was being shredded to pieces and put back together once again. He suddenly couldn't see anything, only masses of colors he had no names for swirling together in monstrous collisions that made everything hurt exponentially more.

He could no longer define where his body began or ended, and everything around him suffered in rippling pain.

And suddenly, it was all gone and he knew exactly where he was. The skies above Midgard. The air crackled with his presence, and Mjolnir hummed in response to the storm.

He saw a small Migardian flying machine beneath his current flight path, and knew immediately that Loki was within. He began the drop to the surface of the quinjet.

The quinjet's frame shook in the wake of an uproarious bout of thunder, and Steve didn't miss the note of nervousness that flickered across Loki's face. "What's the matter, scared of a little lightning?"

"I'm not overly fond of what follows," Loki replied. He sounded expectant.

The quinjet suddenly shuddered violently, and it was very clear that it was not thunder this time. Tony flipped down this mask, and opened the loading dock. The storm raged violently outside, and strong drafts of cold wind burst through the jet, and rain rapidly struck the end of the dock ramp.

"What are you doing?" called Steve incredulously. Was he _trying_ to destabilize their flight?

Thor dropped into the jet, looking at home with the dark clouds and the lightning, and Tony was about to shoot him, but Mjolnir planted squarely in his chest threw him all the way to the front of the jet.

With a look of indescribable rage and sadness on his face, Thor set his eyes on Loki for the first time. His brother looked smug on the outside, but his eyes held none of the brotherly warmth that they once had. Now only contempt paired with hatred remained. He had been expecting this, but it almost caused Thor to stumble, that look in his brother's eyes.

He quickly found his anger again, doing his best to leave behind the sadness.

Clenching his jaw, he grasped his brother by the neck (not trying to hurt him, but tight enough for Loki to understand that he was beyond angry.) and with a few spins by Mjlonir, he flew from the confines of the jet.

* * *

The weather was calm again as Thor slammed his brother into the ground. Perhaps a touch harder than necessary. After all, Thor still did not know of Jane's fate. Loki could withstand a little tossing around. They were on a sharply steep cliff raising them to the deep blue sky of Midgardian nighttime. The singular moon shone brightly on the two men, and the constellations that Jane had once shown Thor watched as one stood over the other. A crisp-smelling coniferous forest framed them in all directions.

Loki let out a strained grunt and then a maddening chuckle, and Thor felt like he didn't even know this person who lay in front of him.

Thor wanted to take Mjolnir and smash that smile right off Loki's face. How desperately he wanted to ask about Jane. _Where is she?_ He wanted to scream it. He breathed in once, reminded himself that _this is his duty, _to his people, to his family, to Midgard, and to all the rest of the realms. He could not beg for Jane's life and it burned him. Made him angry and hateful in ways that he felt shameful for even thinking.

"Where is the Tesseract?" Thor ground out. He couldn't keep the anger from his voice. He probably shouldn't even try. Loki knew him as well as anyone, and could see when Thor was angered by something.

His laughter increased briefly, "Ah, I missed you, too."

"Do I look to be in a gaming mood?" Thor growled, his passionate anger seeping into his features.

Loki was beginning to stand, if a bit shakily. "You should thank me," he strained, "With the Bifrost gone, how much dark energy did the Allfather have to muster to conjure you here? Your precious Earth?" Thor didn't wince at the mention of the dark energy that most likely left their father completely convalescent, and ignored the fact that Loki was partially correct. He had been dogged about finding a way back to Midgard, but Odin likely would not have allowed his heir to use it. He was needed by his people.

Thor dropped Mjolnir with a resounding _boom. _He strode up to his brother, and with a pained look, "I thought you dead." Was his brother still in there, somewhere? He prayed that it would be so. He mourned the loss of his younger brother, one of his best friends. He missed him. Wanted him back.

He felt his hope deflate when Loki just smiled, and asked in a falsely sympathetic tone, "Did you mourn?"

"We all did!" How could Loki even begin to think they did not? Did he truly believe they cared so little for him? "Our father-"

For the first time, the sMile left his face, and was replaced with something far more sinister. "_Your_ father. Surely he told you my true parentage, did he not?"

He was horrified that his brother would think that Thor would think less of him since he was not of Asgardian blood. The god of thunder was mired in the thoughts of how he had failed his younger brother, of how he wronged Loki when he said, "We were raised together, we played together, we fought together! Do you remember none of that?"

Loki's face was serious, emotionless and said, "I remember a shadow. Living in the shade of your greatness. I remember you tossing me into an abyss, I who was and should be king!" His voice rose in crescendo towards the end.

"So you take the world I love as recompense for your imagined slights?" Thor grew angrier and angrier as this conversation drew on. He didn't recognize this wolf in sheep's clothing who was claiming to be his brother, and couldn't read him like he always thought he could.

At this, a gleeful smile wet Loki's lips. "Only the world you love, Thor?"

The hot anger froze in an instant, his blood turning to ice in his veins. _No. Not Jane. Not Jane..._ "What?"

Another psychotic laugh tore from Loki, "Oh, this is far too amusing. Did that old codger really tell you nothing?"

"Loki..." _He's lying. He must be. He always was an excellent bluffer. He's lying... _Thor tried to internally convince himself that his love was safe.

"I'm sure you remember the lovely Jane Foster?" Thor was choking on air. _He's bluffing. He's lying._ "That exquisite mortal who had the misfortune of crossing paths with you? Yes, well, you may remember her, but I don't believe she remembers you." The last words were a taunt, malicious and there was such _enjoyment _in his eyes.

"What have you done with Jane?" He called Mjolnir to his hand, raising it high over his head.

Loki's only response was to laugh again, obviously unafraid. "Temper, temper, brother. It appears you've done an excellent job protecting her, as well as this realm. The humans slaughter each other in droves while you idly fret about one woman. Who, by the way, is a marvelous lover. I can see why you are so taken with her."

Thor wretched. Physically wretched, knees shook like leaves, skin gone cold and clammy. He never felt such utter fear in his life. Fear that was soon eclipsed by such blinding anger he wanted to smite Loki where he stood. He could do it. End this nightmare with a simple action. He could almost see the vision of Loki, burning in a torch of white lightning. He wanted blood for what had been done to Jane. No amount of it would be enough. "Loki, tell me what you have done with Jane." _And I might let you live_ were the unspoken words. The rage still boiled.

Loki still remained aloof. "My, how the tables have turned. The people of this realm are of no real consequence, and the sooner you understand that, the better off you will be."

Thor absently wished he could just kill this man, this man who was no longer his brother, but... his duty. Duty precluded personal want. "You think yourself above them."

"Well, yes."

He was finished trying to find his brother. He said his next words with as much scorn as he could manage. "Then you miss the truth of ruling, brother. The throne would suit you ill."

Loki showed only precious little annoyance at Thor's slight. "This coming from the prince who has bedded and fallen in love with a mortal from another realm."

"Leave Jane out of this," he said slowly, with as much diction and control as he could muster. He couldn't kill Loki. He needed the Tesseract. And Odin wanted both. He tried to breathe, tried to dissipate the fury in his gut.

"How much would it wound you to know that she does not love you?"

He felt the animosity lapping his insides like flames, and struggled to ignore the words and yelled, "Leave Jane out of this! You give up the Tesseract, you give up this pointless dream!" He softened despite his rage, yet again seeking his lost brother, (_Is he still in there? Please Loki, please come back. I need you._) "You come home."

There was the maddening smile again. "I don't have it." With an angry roar, Thor separated himself from Loki with a shove. Loki couldn't keep his footing and was once again on the ground. Thor raised Mjolnir over his head, fully intending to wreak havoc on Loki's smug face, when the son of Laufey said, "You need the cube to bring me home, but I've sent it off, I know not where."

He lowered Mjolnir, his emotions flaring like a waiting explosion. He stepped away from his brother, trying to process everything he had learned here. Loki scrambled quickly to his feet. A king did not wallow on the ground and he wished to observe Thor's emotional hurricane face-to-face. He was even more thrilled by Thor's response to the 'lover' comment than he had hoped. The artless lout couldn't even tell when Loki was bluffing. (Although, he supposed, he was the God of Mischief and Lies. He would be a pretty pathetic god if he could not lie convincingly...)

Thor's storming eyes were soon towering over his brother's, so caught up in his anger that he didn't hear the tell-tale whine of Iron Man's approach. "Listen well, brother-" _BAM_. In the blink of an eye, Thor was gone. Loki looked after to see the glow of Iron Man's thrusters disappearing into the pine forest beneath the cliff.

Loki waited for a moment more before saying for his own amusement, "I'm listening."

**And the plot thickens! I hope this was enough to tide you over for a while, and I thank you for your continued patience.**

**Chapter 6 Preview:** Loki's hold on Jane wanes as the war approaches and Hawkeye prepares for the assault on the Helicarrier. Thor tries to hold it together as he learns just how much Midgard needs him.


	6. Foreboding

**Chapter 6 Summary: **Thor tries to hold it together as he learns just how much Midgard needs him. Hawkeye prepares for the assault on the Helicarrier, and he gets some strange orders from Loki.

**AN1:** This is long overdue and I apologize. I was having trouble finding Thor's voice, and I was falling into the pattern of just neatly inserting Jane in Erik's place. I wanted to avoid that from the beginning, so I had to do some plot finagling. Also, my muse can be a fickle little bitch.

**AN2:** Thank you for all the reviews and the support, and I hope all of you have wonderful holidays!

Thor was bewildered for only a few moments until he got his bearings and his eyes focused on a man of red and gold metal, who then proceeded to throw the incensed God of Thunder into the ground with a great, loud smash. Clots of dirt were thrown up around him and he grunted at the impact. The landing was inelegant, but Thor hung onto Mjolnir and eventually rolled himself until he was standing.

It did not take a genius to see that Thor was angry. "Do not touch me again." With his formal battle armor, long hair framing a barely-calmed face, and the humming Mjolnir, he made quite the picture.

"Then don't take my stuff," the Metal Man said breezily after flipping up his face visor, seemingly unintimidated by the Asgardian's powerful presence.

The God of Thunder scowled, feeling the anger and carefully-built control colliding within himself. "You have no idea what you are dealing with."

"Ah, Shakespere in the Park?" Thor disguised his confusion, but the Iron Man continued, "Doth mother know that you weareth her drapes?"

Thor scowled when he realized this man of metal was being jocular. How could he jest at a time such as this? "This is beyond you Metal Man," Thor growled, and the vibrations of far-off thunder rattled in Tony's chest. "Loki will face Asgardian justice."

Suddenly not jocular at all, Tony said, in the picture of seriousness, "He gives up the cube, he's all yours. 'Til then," he suggested gravely while replacing his mask, "stay out of the way."

The war control raged against anger inside him suddenly shifted, and his sight went red and his vision became tunneled, only focused on the brash, cocky Metal Man. Was that the only thing the humans cared about? The damned Tesseract? What of Jane? If Loki's words were true, did they care naught for her safe return?

Did humans truly have no loyalty to their own people? He discarded that thought as soon as it came. They were an honorable race. He was sure there were the aberrations among them, as there was with any people, but when it came down to it, Jane's humans were good. They deserved more than his own cocky judgements.

However, if what he had learned of the Chitauri, of this mystical Thanos, was true, he did not know how Midgard could expect a victory. They underestimated Loki. If this brash Metal Man was the gleaming example of what stood between Midgard and the abyss... he feared the consequences of such overconfidence. His fear, regret, fear, anger, and _fear _all exploded inside of him in a whirl of energy and raw, unrestrained power.

Without hesitation, Thor sent his hammer flying into the glowing center of the Metal Man's chest. He immediately regretted the action, but couldn't quite bring himself to feel remorseful just yet. He was drunk on his rage. His opponent flew with Mjolnir, smashing through a massive tree. Thor was upon the Iron Warrior before the splinters even fell to the ground.

Careful to not harm the Midgardian with the impressive armor, Thor placed his knee on the Metal Man's chest, just below the glow that Thor had a rising suspicion had to do with keeping him alive. Useful knowledge if he planned on killing the assailant, which he had _less_ than no intention of doing. Once, he had rejoiced in killing... until he was nearly killed himself.

"What do you know of Loki's prisoners?" he barked. His voice was coarse and demanding. The voice of an army general, it brooked no room for argument.

Tony wouldn't admit it, but _goddamn. _It hurts to have your chest nearly pulverized by some sort of magical hammer and subsequently knelt on by a Norse god. What he knew was limited, but Pepper's forcing him to do his 'homework' had paid dividends in way of information. All he knew was that Thor was the brother of Loki and that he had a vested interest in the good of the planet in the form of a woman named Jane Foster, who Tony had indeed heard of before.

He could be honest and spill the beans right then and there, but that just wouldn't be Tony. He could tell information might be the only thing he could hold over over Thor. Who was a god, by the way. And was still. Kneeling. On. His. Chest. Never let it be said Tony does not use his advantage. Or, more accurately, uses the advantage and is blunt as hell about it. "The ones he commandeered with the glowing stick of destiny? As good as dead."

_That_ got a reaction. Maybe not the best idea to intentionally provoke a being that was possibly several thousand times stronger then himself. Rage and fear blazed in his blue eyes, and one of his massive hands went around Tony's armored neck. He hoped that the suit was strong enough to survive his seriously tight grip. He thought he heard the metal alloy whine slightly under the pressure as Thor said, "Why do you say such things? Are the Midgardians not giving their full efforts to rescue those taken?" His tone was a combination of uncertainty and anger.

Thor was still entirely unsure about whether Jane was in Loki's control or not. Loki was an excellent liar, and Thor wanted so desperately for his brother's claims to be nothing but a manipulation. This Metal Man must have the answers.

"Where is Jane Foster?" he demanded, not giving the man in his grip a chance to answer.

The gold and red mask with the glowing slits for eyes betrayed nothing as he said, "That pretty little astrophysicist? Probably Loki's sex slave by now."

The rest of Thor's carefully built control disintegrated in an instant. With his godly strength, the force that seemed so casual, he threw Iron Man through yet another tree and then called Mjolnir to his hand.

The Iron Warrior recovered quickly, and Thor grinned maliciously and called his greatest weapon down to his hammer. The lightning hummed with power around him, wrapping him in a static veil of the uncontrolled strength answering only to him, and then he hurled it towards the Iron Warrior.

He smirked in bloodlust until he realized his opponent was absolutely and completely unaffected by one of his most vicious attacks that many armies had fallen to. Not only did the lightning do no damage, but it actually benefitted Metal Man, and Thor did not realize there was a super-powered blast coming at him until it connected and he was thrown backwards by the force of it. He recovered in time to see the metallic boots of Iron Man coming straight at him, and now it was Thor's turn to knock down a perfectly innocent tree, losing his grasp on Mjolnir as he did so.

Thor didn't let the dazedness last for very long, and immediately went at Iron Man again.

The two were locked in an intense bout of hand-to-hand, in which Thor had a clear advantage in as he grabbed ahold of one of the forearms of Iron Man and began to literally crush it in his grasp. The only thing that saved Tony's forearm from being reduced to powder was a last-resort repulsor blast from his hand, which nailed the god in the face. He stumbled backwards, surprised by the burn of pain from the Midgardian weapon.

The Metal Man was a much more formidable warrior than Thor had initially given him credit for, and called his hammer to his hand after regaining his bearings.

Both men raised their respective weapons, ready to begin anew their offenses when a spinning red, white, and blue disc first ricocheted from Iron Man's raised hand and then subsequently off Mjolnir, and snapped them from their battle hazes. "Hey!" came a sharply called demand from their left. Thor still felt like he wanted to kill something, but his attention was now drawn away from his opponent.

Thor looked quickly in the direction from which the spinning circle had come. When it returned to the hands of its owner, Thor realized it was a shield, and was immediately impressed with the control its wielder exhibited over it.

"That's enough," the new man ordered, and Thor immediately recognized his posture, his voice, everything about him marked him as a leader, and prepared himself for another fight. He did not know if this man would attempt the same thing the Metal Man had.

He then faintly recognized the man who leapt from his perch and fell gracefully to the forest floor as the one who Loki fought in Stuttgart, the encounter which Heimdall had briefly recounted before he made the horrendous journey to Midgard. He let his guard down only minutely.

"Now, I don't know what you plan on doing here-" he began, but Thor didn't let him finish.

"I've come here to put an end to Loki's schemes." And save Jane, but he couldn't say that.

"Then prove it. Put the hammer down," the Captain suggested calmly.

Thor _almost_ considered heeding his words, but then there was the voice of Metal Man again, "Uh, yeah, _no_, bad call. He loves his-"

Thor didn't let him finish.

"You want me to put the hammer down?" roared the God of Thunder, too caught up in his anger to question what he was doing. He leapt at the Midgardian.

Captain America knelt to the ground and raised his shield, made of the strongest metal on the planet, just moments before Mjolnir, forged in the heart of a dying star, ferociously smashed into the surface.

If the impact from throwing Thor to the ground had been loud, then the sound emitted when the two opposing forces collided was earth-shattering. Literally.

The sound wave rippled outwards, and even the thickest of the trees did not stand in its way. Wood and earth flew into the air, coloring the wind in greens and browns. The very cliffs surrounding them swayed and buckled, but did not crumble. The three figures at the epicenter of the event were not unharmed either.

Thor couldn't comprehend what had just happened as he went soaring backwards with the splinters of lumber and soil. The Asgardian had lived many years, and he had seen many battles. Battles with the fiercest of armies of all the Nine Realms, with weaponry and artillery so savage it should have never been created. And in all those battles, Thor had never come across a single being or object to ever resist his hammer. Fierce warlords, deadly assassins, the very branches of Yggdrasil feared him because of Mjolnir's wrath.

Yet this Midgardian had repelled him, resisted the hammer of Thor. The humans were often touted as the weakest race as they were the youngest and even had yet to discover the skies far beyond their own. The irony was not lost on Thor as the supposed 'weakest race' was the first to ever stand against the God of Thunder and Mjolnir.

He could only look upon the blue, red, and white man with a grudging respect. Not all Midgardians were so fragile, it would seem, as the arm behind the shield had not given in as he defended himself.

The man whose shield repelled his hammer, who would soon become a legend in each and every realm's lore as the first man who had done so, stood and placed himself between Thor and the Metal Man.

His anger simmered and then died in the middle of the chaos he had caused, immediately followed by a keen sense of shame. He shouldn't have let his emotion get the best of him. In battle, sometimes it was better to lose yourself in anger and bloodlust, but he had grown quite a bit where keeping his infamous rage under control was concerned. Although, it seemed that the newly-garnered patience faded in the wake of Jane being in danger. Or his then-brother's unexpected and violent return to the land of the living. Thor wasn't really sure which it was.

"Are we done here?"

Thor knew he could give this man, this Captain, his respect. He began to feel awful for attacking him when he was just trying to defuse the situation that had grown so volatile between himself and the Iron Warrior, and he had repaid him by trying to smash his skull in with Mjolnir.

He still had much to learn.

Despite his regret over attacking the Captain, he found himself wishing he had hit Iron Man much, _much_ harder.

* * *

After some smooth talking and convincing that they were indeed on the same side by Captain America and the newly introduced Agent Natasha Romanoff who carried with her a subtly dangerous aura (Thor could sense the warrior's spirit within her. If the occasion ever arose, he suspected she would get along very well with Lady Sif), Thor calmed significantly.

With his doubts assuaged for the time being, he removed his formal armor, the lightning commanded by Mjolnir encasing him, and when he emerged, the chainmail from his arms was gone, as was the long red cape. In its place was a different chest plate, crafted of heavy leather with metal adornments, and scarlet bracers that showed his cape was never truly gone. He then followed the Midgardians onto the flying craft. With a cackling Loki in tow, Thor knew his brother's schemes were only just beginning, and had been somewhat reluctant to remove his armor. But he decided to place his trust in his new allies, that they could control his brother as well as he.

Loki remained unresponsive for the duration of the flight. Thor made weak attempts at drawing words from Loki, but realized his efforts would be unfruitful. Everyone generally ignored the restrained, mischievous god with the smirk on his face after that.

The human's floating fortress was rather impressive. He was shocked when he saw the massive ship coalesce in the sky, and was surprised and convinced the Midgardians had rediscovered magic. That was until Agent Romanoff had informed him that it was merely reflective mirrors that would bend light from the angle of incidence and from there onwards she lost him in the scientific jargon that had sounded similar to what Jane would spout when she worked on something, which he had only seen briefly in his time on Midgard, but it stuck out in his memory. Perhaps because when her eyes were alight with knowledge and discovery it made her shine from within.

Dear Odin, he missed her.

Once they boarded the vessel, Loki was taken away by armed escort, and Thor took a deep breath and let him go. Trust them. Loki was still silent and Thor had an uneasy feeling that he was simply biding his time.

As his brother disappeared down the corridor, Thor was pleasantly surprised by the presence of a friend. Finally, something good. "Son of Coul!" greeted Thor uproariously. "It pleases me to see you well, my friend!" and then the thunder god promptly threw the much shorter man into a bear hug.

Phil was obviously caught off guard (they'd only known each other for maybe a few hours last time he was on earth, and yet Thor considered him a friend?), but relaxed and just went with it. "You too, Thor."

He heard Stark whisper a joke about how he didn't get such a warm greeting to Agent Romanoff, to which she just glared. Thor elected to ignore it, as Tony obviously hadn't taken into account Asgardian superior hearing.

Agent Romanoff led Thor and Steve to the bridge, while Agent Coulson led Tony Stark away for a 'debriefing'. Upon their entrance into the command center of the Helicarrier, Thor was introduced to a menacing-looking Midgardian man by the name of Nick Fury. The director of SHIELD had an immediately noticeable eyepatch over one eye, and Thor assumed the man had lost it in a battle much like his father had. After their quick greeting, Fury stated he would be dropping by for a housewarming party with the imprisoned Loki. Thor knew not exactly what he meant, but he knew better than to constantly ask questions.

He was then introduced to a kindly looking man with dark hair and dark eyes named Bruce Banner. Thor was informed of his particular 'condition' and was fascinated and had heard some of the more intriguing details of this raging, green 'Hulk', but held off his questions for the time being. He could see a deep unease in the man, a discomfort with being surrounded by so much activity. He wished he could enquire as to why Banner seemed this way, but was able to quickly deduce doing so would be of rather poor taste. Besides, he could see on the various screens about the bridge that Loki had been safely delivered to the hands of the Midgardian prison.

The flurry of activity fell silent as Loki and Nick Fury began to exchange words. Thor took his place away from the table, eyes focused on nothing but his ears keenly aware of his brother, where Agent Romanoff and the good Captain took their places. Banner stood behind them, his attentions also on the fallen Asgardian prince.

Thor listened as Nick Fury described the prison to its occupant, and Loki's jest at how it was not built for him.

"Built for something a lot _stronger_ than you," Fury replied assuredly.

Thor didn't have to see him to here the mischievous smirk in his brother's voice. "Oh, I've heard." There was a pause before Loki spoke again. "The mindless beast. Makes play he's still a man. How desperate are you that you call upon such lost creatures to defend you?"

"How desperate am I?" Nick Fury began, "You threaten my world with war, you steal a force you can't hope to control, you talk about peace and you kill because it's fun." His voice lowered slightly, "You have made me _very_ desperate. You might not be glad that you did."

Loki made a taunting '_ooh_' sound before saying, "It burns you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power. _Unlimited_ power." Loki's voice loses all its aloof potency and becomes very grounded in edged certainty. "And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share? And then to be reminded what real power is," he finished, with something that sounded a lot like a growl.

"Well let me know if 'real power' wants a magazine or something," Fury said before Lady Natasha cut the feed.

It was Banner who spoke first. "He really grows on you, doesn't he?"

Captain America, who just seemed to naturally herald the leadership position, voiced his own thoughts a moment later. "Loki's going to drag this out, so... Thor, what's his play?"

He breathed slowly once. All he has to do was relay information. Simple. "He has an army called the Chitauri. They are not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people, and they will win him the Earth. In exchange, I suspect, for the Tesseract."

"An army. From outer space." The Captain sounded... disbelieving.

"He's building another portal," Banner realized, "That's what he needs Foster for."

And just when he was managing to keep himself professional in dire straits, his innards felt as if they'd been sucked out of his feet. "Foster?" _No. No. No..._ "As in Jane Foster?"

"Yeah," Banner seemed surprised that he knew that, "She's an astrophysicist-"

"I know very well who she is," Thor interrupted roughly. "What do you know of Jane Foster?" he asked in his most commanding tone. "Has Loki taken her?" Their small group gathered on the bridge seemed taken aback by his sudden vehemence.

Despite his focus being on Banner who had shown that he had knowledge of Jane's status, it was Agent Romanoff who answered. "Loki has her under some kind of spell." There was a minute shift in her delivery when she added, "Along with one of ours."

No. This couldn't be happening. Thor hadn't felt so alone and terrified since Mjolnir refused to recognize him. He had been broken, and it had only been by the grace of Jane, Darcy, and Erik Selvig that he was not set adrift in a world he did not know. And it was Jane who made sure he was securely tethered to the ground beneath his feet, and for the first time since he had been banished he felt as though he might belong somewhere. That he could learn to call someplace his home. That he did not have to be a king, a prince, or even a god to be happy.

While to everyone in the room it seemed like Thor had simply accepted her answer, they continued to discuss their current prisoner.

"I want to know why Loki let us take him," Steve wondered.

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You can _smell_ the crazy on him," Banner said.

Thor was snapped out of his daze by that comment, and slammed his open palm down onto the table. "Have care how you speak!" He belatedly realized he had crushed the portion of the table beneath his palm, despite not having put that much force behind it, and there was now a Thor-sized-hand print in its otherwise pristine surface. He pulled his arm back, embarrassed by his display. "My apologies," he said to no one in particular. He had to stop letting his emotions get the best of him. Much more reasonably toned, Thor said, "Loki may be beyond reason, but he is my brother." No one seemed particularly affected by his outburst, for which he was grateful.

"He's killed eighty people in two days." Lady Natasha's voice was not putting emphasis on any of her words, but there was an underscore of resentment in her tone.

He felt the need to apologize for Loki once more, but moreover began to feel such guilt. "It truly pains me to see the damage he has done to your realm, but I will not have him treated like a soulless miscreant." Because, he knew, if anyone was to blame it was himself.

His unwavering loyalty to his brother confused his new comrades, that much he could tell.

It was at that time Banner decided to take the now-awkward pressure off of the Thunder God and began asking questions about why they needed the iridium which Loki had orchestrated the theft of in Stuttgart.

"It's a stabilizing agent," came a new voice, and Thor turned to see a man whom he did not recognize with Coulson until he looked at the man's face. The Metal Man had arrived. He muttered a few things to the Son of Coul about flying out to somewhere called Portland and keeping love alive and then turned back to the whole of the group and said, "Means the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at SHIELD."

He almost felt like he should apologize to the Metal Man. He must have hurt him, but this Tony Stark acted as if he was above everyone and everything. The callous way he spoke of Jane in the forest left him reluctant to have anything to do with the man who now called him Point Break and said he had a mean swing. Whatever any of those things meant. The Metal Man did say there was no hard feelings, so perhaps an apology was unnecessary.

Stark continued to strut around the bridge like he was Nick Fury himself. "Also, means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants." Calling out over the small sea of agents, Tony began giving antiquated orders, "Uh, raise this mast, ship the topsails." Most of the agents below stopped in confusion, the din dying slightly before the unarmored Metal Man observed, "That man is playing Galaga. Thought we wouldn't notice. But we did." The agents began to return to their work as they realized nothing worthwhile was being said. He did some experimental covering of one eye. "How does Fury even see these?" he asked, referring to the screens before him, of a dark haired agent Thor had been introduced to as Maria Hill.

"He turns."

"Sounds exhausting. The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. The major component he still needs is a power source of high energy density. Something to," he finally turned back around, "kick start the cube."

"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" Agent Hill asked drily.

"Last night," Tony informed matter-of-factly. "The packet. Foster's notes. Her extraction theory papers? " He seemed put out by the fact that no one was nodding and saying 'Yes, Tony! You are exactly correct!' He asked plaintively, "Am I the only one who did the reading?"

"Would Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Rogers asked.

It's around that time when Thor lost the ability to pay incredibly close attention to what Banner and Stark were saying back and forth to each other. He was glad to see that he was not alone as Captain Rogers looked equally lost.

Nick Fury reentered the room soon afterwards, emphasizing the fact that Dr. Banner was only here to track the Tesseract.

The Captain apparently recognized the staff Loki wielded as a relative of weapons he had seen in the past. Something called Hydra.

Nick Fury had begun to speak again, but Thor only really and truly registered the last piece of information. "I want to know how Loki managed to turn two of the sharpest people I know into his own personal flying monkeys."

This statement confused Thor, and decided to finally convey his utter confusion. "Monkeys? I don't understand."

"I do," said Rogers, sounding quite pleased for once. "I understood that reference."

It was then that the Son of Coul helpfully leaned over to the bamboozled Thunder God and quietly explained that the expression meant Loki had Jane and this Agent Barton at his beck and call like unwilling slaves.

He almost wished he hadn't learned the definition.

Bruce and Tony eventually walked off, babbling like excited children about scientific concepts Thor couldn't even begin to try to understand. He smiled wistfully when he realized Jane would fit right in them.

With their meeting complete, Thor just began to walk with no actual plan of where he was going. All he knew was that he needed to be alone, and to absorb everything that he had just learned.

* * *

The service deck of the Helicarrier was abuzz with life, but Thor managed to find a secluded area away from the activity. It was next to a quiet generator of some sort, and he leaned his back against the gentle hum, and just slid down. Let every single emotion crash over him like subsequent tidal waves. He felt like he was tossed and crushed by pounding water as he placed his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands.

He felt completely and utterly alone. Loki's words from the cliff and his prison reverberated inside his head, mocking him, laughing at him. He had found some solace on the cliff, thinking that perhaps Loki was bluffing.

Now, it was his fears incarnate. Nick Fury and Lady Natasha had confirmed it.

No matter what Loki might taunt him with, he tried to refuse to accept the possibility that his Jane might be dead. If he welcomed such a statement into his heart as a fact, he would surely lose all hope.

Midgard needed him. They needed the God of Thunder, the warrior, the hero. Not Thor the man, suddenly a creature of emotion and conflict. He despised weakness of any sort. And at that moment, Thor felt profoundly weak. It was a feeling he hasn't experienced much of before his time on Earth. Fear and helplessness. It was maddening.

Jane was constantly on his mind. His worry for Jane, despite his duty, was paramount to that of Loki and the Tesseract. Every scenario that played itself out in his mind's eye ended badly. Loki using Jane for whatever he wished. Using her against him. Everything that would ultimately lead to Jane's death. _She is doomed, Thor._

His hope was dwindling.

He raised his head at the sound of approaching footsteps and to his utter surprise, there stood the Son of Coul. He approached the near-despondent Thor, and sat down next to him. "How are you doing?" he asked quietly.

Thor clenched his jaw, and answered the way he was supposed to. "I stand ready to defend Midgard."

Phil scoffed exasperatedly, the clever tactic for dodging the question not at all unfamiliar to him. "No, I asked how _you_ are doing. Not what your duty dictates."

"I..." Thor wasn't sure how to respond. He swallowed as he tried to think of an appropriate reply. All of his education as a prince, as a future diplomat who had to think on his feet, seemed to fly out the window.

Coulson began again since he didn't want to wait for Thor to come up with another diplomatic response. "Since I know what you want to say, but you won't say it because of whatever you are feeling is a problem." He turned and looked Thor squarely in the eye, "We are going everything we can to ensure that Jane is delivered from Loki's custody unharmed."

Thor swallowed thickly, more grateful to the Son of Coul than he could ever comprehend. The words, short and to-the-point, re-established whatever remains of his hope were left. He still felt scattered and afraid, but suddenly it did not seem he was fighting for a hopeless cause. Agent Phillip Coulson was obviously a good man. A good man who was offering an olive branch to the self-secluded god. He was candid, and deserved nothing less than candor in return. "I am afraid."

"For Jane?"

He nodded pensively, "Aye, but not just for her. I knew my brother to be a good man once."

Coulson stiffened slightly beside him, but said nothing; Thor did not hold it against him. If an unknown enemy had entered Asgard and began slaughtering his people in droves, he would be feeling much more than simple animosity towards them. And here he was, in the same situation and trying to empathize with the mass-murderer of humans. He could understand Phil's discomfort.

"I am truly sorry if my words bring you distress, but you must understand. I grew up with a man who I knew to be my brother. He was one of my best friends, my closest confidant. It has truly shaken me to know that he has harbored such hatred for me his entire life. I do not know when his grudge began, and I feel ill to consider when truth became lies, when Loki pulled away from me and I didn't even realize. It makes me wonder about every action I have taken, every small thing that I have said that may have ultimately chipped away at Loki until there was nothing left. I find myself asking, 'Did I push him here?' My answer every time is yes. My arrogance and stupidity drove a wedge between us, and I was too absorbed by myself to even notice it." Thor's speech ended with his normally great voice becoming small and weak.

Phil was silent a beat, and answered, "It takes a good man to see his mistakes. It takes a better man to try to do better. No matter what mistakes you have made in the past, no matter if they are your fault or not, you are here now trying to correct them.

"And I don't think that the man I see in front of me is the same one who so boldly tried to break into our facility to claim what was once his," Phil finished wryly, the memory of that rainy night in the desert when he watched a mortal Thor take down his entire security force now a fond one.

Thor smiled weakly. He felt like a shattered man, but the Son of Coul had begun the arduous process of putting him back together again when Jane wasn't there to do it. "Thank you. Your wisdom humbles me. I can only hope to be the man this realm needs me to be."

Phil did not respond straight away. Instead, he pulled out a small device with a glass screen that filled Coulson's hand. It looked delicate, and Thor could barely follow Phil's fingers as the flew across the smooth surface. His breath caught in his throat when he saw a picture of Jane appear. The first time he has laid eyes upon her in what seemed like forever. She was smiling, light brown locks worn loose around her face and dark eyes brilliant. She looked as beautiful as ever, but her bright presence was dulled by the Midgardian device. Despite this, her visage was like a breath of fresh air.

There were many changing numbers, and waving lines next to her picture, and he was about to ask what they meant, but Coulson beat him to it. "We give all SHIELD employees biometric monitoring devices. It means we can monitor their health at all times," he explained to Thor's confused look. "According to the device in Ms. Foster, she is alive and healthy. There are no physical signs of distress that we can pick up, although it has been roughly three days since she last slept or ate anything." Phil reconsidered his earlier statement, "So perhaps she isn't in perfect health, but her life is not currently in danger."

Thor sighed in relief, much tension released from his body. Not all of it left. His situation was as far from a ideal as he could get. But thanks to his good friend, he no longer felt hopeless, and the two sat in a comfortable silence, underscored by the soft whine of the generator.

* * *

Hawkeye was gathering his crew to infiltrate the Helicarrier when he heard Loki's voice in his head. A simple command, but as soon as it was planted in his mind, he had no choice but to obey.

_Bring Foster._

Now, Barton was a superb agent, but the command to bring a civilian as a tag-along would normally have set him on edge. But now was obviously not a normal time as his eyes bled pale blue.

The time to free Loki drew near.

**Jane wrote the extraction theory papers in this universe. I like making her a kickass genius so deal with it.**

**I feel that Thor's emotional interplay with his brother was so short-changed in the movie, and so I hope to give more poignancy to Loki's actions and the consequences they have on Thor. I loved the 'He's adopted' line, but this is an angsty story folks.**

**You have no idea how long I have wanted to use the word _jocular_ in my writing and make it sound natural. No idea.**

**Chapter 7 Preview: **Loki's hold on Jane wanes as the war approaches, and all hell breaks loose as Loki's forces attack SHIELD's base of operations, and Loki is intent on wreaking havoc upon his tormented brother.

_As she felt the fog grow stifling, Jane lost control of her limbs. She knew this was Loki's doing, and grew angry at him for doing so. This wasn't a part of the deal! She gave him the portal and the world would give her recognition, respect! He wouldn't just use her body to suit his own purposes!_

_But here she was, completely under Loki's control and waltzing down the hallway of the Helicarrier as if she ran the joint._


	7. Crescendo

**Chapter 7 Summary:** All hell breaks loose as Loki's forces attack SHIELD's base of operations, and Loki is intent on wreaking havoc upon his tormented brother.

**AN1:** Thank you for all the support. It's amazing how much seeing your response lifts my spirits. Happy Valentines Day!

**AN2:** I have decided to omit the argument from the laboratory. I wrote it out, and realized I wasn't making any significant changes except for some internal stuff on Thor's part, so I decided to drop the scene. And... this chapter speeds a bit. I'd recommend putting on your seatbelts, folks.

* * *

"As soon as the Tesseract was stolen, we were sure to move Erik Selvig and Darcy Lewis. We assumed Loki would come after people close to you, so they are in lockdown in a SHIELD safehouse in Norway. They will be safe."

Thor was once again overwhelmed with his gratitude of the Son of Coul. "Thank you. You were not incorrect about Loki's wish to take those with whom I have a close connection. I know for certain it was no accident, Loki taking Jane." He swallowed heavily. "I fear what he plans for her when he is done." Horrendously violent images tumbled heedlessly through his mind before Agent Coulson's words distracted him for his inward hell.

"She talks about you a lot. You changed her life, you know? You changed everything around here."

"They..." He briefly entertained the idea of not having crashed to Earth, of not having brought such pain and destruction to Jane's world. It was an option that made him blanch at the thought of never meeting the people who changed his life, but there was the draw of leaving the beautiful planet, of leaving Jane and his Midgard friends far out of harms way. "They were better as they were," he managed bleakly. "In Asgard, we think ourselves more advanced, that the Aesir are the highest of beings, yet we come here, battling like bilgesnipe."

"Like what?"

"Bilgesnipe. Huge, scaly, big antlers. You don't have those?"

"Don't think so."

"Well, they are repulsive, and they destroy everything in their path."

He moved to look out across the great white clouds of Midgard, their white surfaces darkened by the nighttime. His arms crossed over his chest, like trying to ward off a chill that had come over him. "When I first came to Earth," he began, hearing the Son of Coul approach him from behind, "Loki's rage followed me here," _frightened people, angry citizens who didn't know why they had to leave, the bright eyes of the children, so scared, so trusting as he picked them up, like he could protect them from all evil, the Destroyer, explosions, death, the pain_ "and your people paid the price. And now again," His voice shook imperceptibly. His fingers tightened around his arms. "In my youth I courted war."

So wrapped up he was in his introspect, Thor did not hear the approach of Nick Fury. "War hasn't started yet," the confident Midgardian in black stated. Thor turned from the window to face SHIELD's leader.

"A fact I am deeply grateful for," Thor said, although he did not know how long the peace could last with Loki's scheming.

"Do you think you could make Loki tell us where the Tessertact is?"

"Loki's mind is far afield." A fact he cursed more and more each day. "It's not just power he craves, it's vengeance. Upon me." _You changed her life._ He could only pray she wouldn't regret him. "No amount of pain could rend a truthful answer from him."

"A lot of guys think that until the pain starts," Fury said. The chilling part was that it sounded like he knew from experience.

"What are you asking me to do?" Thor asked, bristling slightly. His words before about pain hadn't been intended to be interpreted as an invitation to torture his brother. He ground his teeth together before he said something he regretted.

"I'm asking you what are you _prepared_ to do."

Now, Thor was a warrior. He was well-versed in the way of using pain to gain answers when he required them. But this... his own brother? He had planned on answering diplomatically, saying he, as a Prince of Asgard, could not possibly torture Loki, who was still considered a citizen of Asgard. Instead, this is what came forth: "How dare you insinuate that I should torture my own brother! Is the human race so vile as to assume I could do such a thing to my own kin? In all the nine realms I have never-" Thor stopped hearing the words that spewed from his mouth in his rage at this Nick Fury. What kind of man could ask such favors?

He snapped his mouth closed when the Son of Coul put a hand on his shoulder, drawing him backwards a step. This shook Thor out of the angry haze he had been in, and he felt drawn back into himself. Nick Fury hadn't reacted to the tirade, face blank as if he were listening and absorbing the spiked words Thor hurled his way.

"I apologize for my inappropriate behavior." Summoning all of his princely training, "I must decline your request." There. He said it.

"Director," a new voice inserted, "I would be more than willing to interrogate him myself without the need for violence."

Thor's eyes were drawn to the Lady Natasha. The shock of violent red hair haloed a beautiful face even the Light Elven women would be envious of, but Thor could see a darkness within her that belied her outer beauty. She was capable of dark and sinister things.

"Agent Romanoff, are you sure that would be wise?" Fury asked.

Her eyes sharpened to fierce points, that veiled darkness making itself known, "With all due respect, there's nothing I cannot handle. Sir." Her pose was defiant, confident, and the Thunder God could see she held no fear in her stance.

Thor felt his lips curl unwillingly into a smile at her stubborn personality. Yes, he knew he would like Natasha.

Fury breathed out once, "I need the Council's permission to allow you to interrogate him. Agent Coulson, with me," he ordered curtly. Without waiting for a response, because that's just how Nick Fury was, he turned on his heel and headed for the Council conference room with Agent Coulson following behind.

Agent Romanoff approached him. She was much like Son of Coul in that she did not treat him like an outsider, or something to be gawked at or shied away from.

"You will forever have my gratitude, my lady," he said honestly. "I fear my words to Fury were said in anger, but I cannot deny that the sentiment remains."

Her expression didn't change as she said, "Don't worry about it. Fury can be a bastard when it suits him."

He took her understanding gratefully. A silence descended, but didn't last long. "I must warn you, Lady Natasha, that my brother is a master manipulator."

Her lips began to tug into something that was the semblance of a smile, but her expression was one that looked like longing and pain mixed together. "He's not going to be the only one."

* * *

Jane would have felt out of place if her true emotions weren't held in paralysis by her current situation-sitting in the rear of a procured SHIELD quinjet, surrounded by men with menacing black attire covering them head to toe, with various assault weapons in their hands.

Jane could see out the front window they were approaching the Helicarrier. She had been on the behemoth of engineering only a handful of times during her employment by SHIELD, and could never quite believe it when the massive airship lifted off the ocean surface. Jane was a physicist and she could calculate the massive energy that would have to expend in order to break all those hydrogen bonds. The number (by her very accurate estimates) was hideously colossal. That wasn't even taking into account the reflection panels that made her actually gasp in awe the first time she saw them in action. What, she was a scientist and they were basically cheating the laws of physics. Once she thought through it, though, it wasn't too strange. Light doesn't operate under any absolute set of rules, and all you would have to some is finagle with bending the light rays.

Still insanely cool.

But now was not a time when Jane marveled at SHIELD's base of operations.

Hawkeye did that cool move that snapped his bow open, his high-tech quiver strapped to his back.

Jane wanted to ask how he planned on neutering a megaton Helicarrier with a single arrow. She didn't; not that he would have answered.

The tertiary sensor that was keyed to Loki's scepter indicated it was time to move in.

The rear door to the craft slid open, the master archer striding for the open mouth without fear. Wind bit into the cabin, but it didn't deter Agent Barton as he stopped just inches shy of a thirty thousand foot drop.

One thing that hadn't changed with Loki's presence in their minds was the look in his eye while he lined up a shot. They darted around for a bare moment, probably estimating wind speeds or whatever he did to make his arrows hit their marks every single time. Then they became so singly focused it never failed to send chills down Jane's arms.

He drew an arrow, and she noticed the custom-crafted head was styled differently than your average arrowhead. Then he fired, Jane's eyes tracking the black shaft until it disappeared behind the massive lift fan.

Jane kept watching the fan, waiting for something to happen. She noticed the barest of movements from one of Hawkeye's fingers, and that's when she heard the massive explosion, saw a plume of red and orange flame light up the engine. The carrier shuddered in the air, dipping only minutely before the other engines upped their rotations to keep the base afloat.

The much smaller craft landed rather gracelessly on the upper runway, with a hard jolt that nearly sent Jane to her knees. She kept her wits about her though, and followed suit with the rest of their crew off the quinjet, despite how out of place she looked in her signature flannel and jeans in the sea of sleek, black soldiers.

Next thing she knew, she was being scooped up by Hawkeye, despite his bow, and sliding down a ventilation shaft in his tight grip. He barked out orders to his men as he set her on her feet, and Jane's ears trained on the echoing sound of a great roar that didn't sound at all human or animal.

"Loki wants you," Clint added, tone emotionless and robotic as he began the trek down this particular service catwalk with a few men following suit.

"Yeah, I know," she answered, though she knew he didn't need to hear it. She hadn't needed Hawkeye's order, either. She knew exactly what Loki wanted from her, but she felt loathe to do anything for him. Why was she even here? She should be helping _her own team _set up the machine, not here being absolutely pointless in a situation she had not a shred of experience in. Hawkeye would do just fine without her. She was a rational mind, and rationality dictated that she shouldn't be anywhere near this assault.

Loki's intent was never quite discernible to her. Only when he wanted her to know something did he let her have it.

Her purpose here was not one of those things.

Her feet (or Loki's magic) began to carry her along the array of service catwalks that lined the Helicarrier ceilings and hidden passages. She wasn't entirely aware of her surroundings when she heard a massive crash from beneath her. Her blank eyes snapped towards the sound. She found herself on the ceiling of some sort of repair shop, with jets she couldn't identify with mysterious hatches popped open and men in shop scrubs mulling beneath her. Until they all froze at the large intrusion of their space.

A massive, muscled, and obviously angry green creature rolled from a gaping hole in the wall, opposite a much smaller, but still impressively sized man.

A man with archaic armor and long blonde hair.

The only man strong enough to hurl the Hulk through a wall.

His face flicked upwards towards his opponent, totally unaware of her eyes on him, the lights catching the blue of his eyes.

Jane didn't understand why her heart was in her throat.

He looked familiar, and for some reason she knew his name. His name was very important to her.

Thor.

Thor?

_Thor!_

For a minuscule amount of time, she felt Loki's magic recede, as if it shied away from the brilliant light that suddenly filled her. But with the light came the worry, because damnit, he was about to face down the Hulk!

She was about to yell for him, tell him to back the hell away, to run, something, but everything in her stopped. Jane's demeanor did not change in her instant of pure freedom, and Loki's heavy magic instantly stilling and burying all thoughts she had of the man who had risen and was now battling a rage monster twice his size.

The fog of Loki's magic stirred restlessly. It had become easy enough to ignore, like an object far in her periphery vision, but now it swirled in her mind like a sleeping dragon awoken. It encroached upon her conscious slowly enough, so slowly she almost didn't notice it.

As she felt the fog grow stifling, Jane lost control of her limbs. She knew this was Loki's doing, and grew angry at him for doing this. This wasn't a part of the deal! She gave him the portal and the world would give her recognition, respect! He wouldn't just use her body to suit his own purposes!

With all of her attention now gone from the battle below her, she began walking much faster in the direction of... What?

The large repairs garage was far behind her and she was in one of the small service passages when her body stopped, and looked down. With a grace she never knew she was capable of, Jane planted a foot on a vent cover, kicked it from its moorings, and dropped through it as if she were an assassin/spy like Hawkeye. She landed lightly in a deserted hallway, and walked in a direction not of her choosing with the blare of an alarm and the flash of the alarm lights in her eyes.

Here she was, completely under Loki's control and waltzing down a hallway of the Helicarrier as if she ran the joint.

The astrophysicist's mind went latent, almost like when she was just on the precipice of sleep but hasn't quite fallen into it, except it was perpetual and suffocating. Loki guided her through the maze of halls, and if she had any sort of awareness, she would have been surprised she ran into no SHIELD agents. Loki was intentionally avoiding them. If she were aware, she would have scoffed at him for not keeping her in the service passages.

Her puppet body eventually reached Loki's prison from a very convoluted route through the carrier. He didn't look surprised or relived to see her as he loosened his magic, giving her reign over her limbs again. The memory of the fight in the garage was buried deeply. It was almost as if she had no recollection of being anywhere near the garage.

Now back in (semi)control, Jane glowered at him through the glass. "Never. Do that. Again," she spat, carefully enunciating each of her words.

Loki seemed to find this amusing, which she found infuriating. Her mind was trapped in a paradox, simultaneously hating Loki with every scrap of her being and wanting to shout her praise to the god of mischief to the heavens and beyond because he validated her research. The two emotions, hate and absolute adoration, were felt so strongly at once nearly overwhelmed her. Her head hurt briefly until the hate suddenly faded away, and she looked to the control panel.

She knew what she had to do now. Loki must be freed.

The control board looked rather complex, but her brilliant mind quickly figured out how it worked, and with a few flips and switches, she finally hit the release button, and the door opened without a sound.

Loki strode out so casually you would never guess he was escaping maximum security confinement. His eyes were alight with psychotic mischief. He paused for a moment, his head cocking to the side a moment as if he sensed something (or someone) drawing near, and grinned a wicked smile. A doppelgänger shimmered into existence in the cage. "Come here, my slave," Loki beckoned.

Even if Jane had the capacity to resist, his tone wasn't asking any favors. Without the ability to truly comprehend what she was doing, Jane willingly walked into the cage meant for the Hulk. Loki's double pulled her close to his body, one arm around her neck. It was loose, so she was in no form of discomfort, but she could feel that something monumental was about to happen.

The true Loki stepped off to the side as a veil of invisibility fell over him. His brother drew near.

* * *

Thor was not gravely injured from his fight with Banner's alter ego, but he had not anticipated such power in the giant green beast. But he could not deny that he felt utterly sore, like all his joints had been dislocated and then snapped back in place. He had grown concerned towards the end of their battle that he might actually become seriously wounded. He was so relieved when a Midgardian had captured the attention of the Hulk and encouraged the rage monster out of the Helicarrier.

Now, he was running full tilt towards Loki's prison. This was his brother's doing, and he was sure everything going on was merely a distraction to allow Loki adequate time to escape.

Upon his arrival to the room where his brother was being held, he had such a vivid flashback to his nightmare before arriving on Midgard it nearly crippled him.

The door to the cage was wide open, and there was Loki, grinning like the soulless miscreant Thor had insisted he was not. And in his arms, looking so perfectly placid it broke Thor's already damaged heart, was Jane.

Her eyes glimmered an unearthly blue, and his heart broke even more. Jane would have been unable to fight Loki's magic. She was literally a slave to Loki's will.

Thor had always been one to throw himself into a situation and sort out his thoughts later. That was what he did now, with a great, roared, "_No!_" Thor lunged towards Loki and the captive Jane.

His arms immediately went around Jane, trying to pry her from Loki's grasp- which shimmered out of existence as soon as Thor had Jane in his arms. His momentum carried them to the ground, Thor taking the brunt of the fall.

Thor immediately recovered, getting to one knee quickly and running his eyes over the downed scientist.

Jane lay unresponsive, eyes blue and wide open. Her expression was blank, as if she did not even realize where she was, who she was with. His eyes moved from his love, who appeared physically unharmed for the most part, to the true Loki outside the cage.

"Are you ever _not_ going to fall for that?" the God of Mischief asked drily, but there was dark amusement in his eyes.

Thor felt betrayal well up in him, and flew at the transparent prison wall, Mjolnir making a large crack in the surface.

The prison shook precariously, freed from the bonds that had kept it stationary.

Fury's demonstration of the cage's treacherous trap sprung to his mind.

All at once, Thor knew _exactly_ what his brother's intentions were.

Loki laughed. _Laughed_. The wound of betrayal grew. "The humans think us immortal... Shall we test that?"

"Loki," he began, his tone pleading, fringing on begging, "do whatever you wish to harm me, but... Please, _please _leave Jane. Let her out. I will not fight, just please _let her out_." While he spoke, Thor backed slowly away from the cage wall, and knelt next to Jane once more.

Loki's head cocked in cool calculation, "Once, your begging would not have fallen upon deaf ears. Thor, son of Odin and heir to the throne of Asgard, begging for the life of his kept mortal doxy. That just sounds too perfect to be real." The former prince smiled, a twisted gesture. Thor's expression of carefully managed rage and fear failed to change. "Dear Thor, you are as dull as I remembered. I have but one hope for you and your mortal." Loki paused, and the blood son of Odin felt like he was choking. "You will see her die, Thor. Violently. Painfully. And do you know why I wish death upon this mortal?"

Thor could only stare, but it was plain that Loki was speaking in cruel, bald rhetoric.

"_Because she knew you_. Because she knew you, and you meant something to her. That reason, and that reason alone is why she must die today, Thor. Even if your heart continues to beat after hers has ceased, know that she dies today because of you." Loki's last words were calm. Sure. No trace of remorse or second thought.

He moved to the control panel.

"Step away please." The words were a shock to Thor, and his eyes trained on the speaker. The Son of Coul. "You like this?" he asked, deadpan, gesturing with the strange, glowing weapon in his hands. "We started working on the prototype after you sent the Destroyer. Even I don't know what it does." The weapon seemed to engage then, the sides flaring in brilliant slits of orange. Thor almost smiled. Agent Coulson was a brave man, among the bravest of the mortals. He would forever be in the man's debt. "Do you want to find out?"

And then, when Thor was beginning to feel better about the precarious position he and Jane were placed it, Phil moaned in pain, the tip of Loki's spear appearing through Coulson's chest.

"_NO_!" The word tore from him involuntarily.

Loki stood behind the Son of Coul, pushing the spear deeper into his chest. The red of blood bloomed like a macabre rose on Agent Coulson's chest. It was a grievous wound, one that eve the most durable of mortals would likely not recover from. Thor's horrified gaze went to his brother, whose expression was cold indifference. Jaw set, eyes blank.

Everything in Thor just stopped. He became unaware of everything, even the comatose Jane, except for his brother. Who now enjoyed killing. Rejoiced in pain and suffering. He didn't recognize the man in front of him, the man who callously stepped around the body of the now downed Son of Coul without a second glance.

Who was stepping towards the control panel like there hadn't been a single hiccup in his plan. Like he hadn't just murdered a man for no reason other than that he was there.

"_Loki, no!"_

But his words were far too late.

One moment he is looking upon the malicious face of Loki, the brother he no longer knew, and the next he and Jane were falling through the blue Midgardian sky.

It was disorienting, and Jane was still absolutely silent and completely limp as the cage spun heedlessly around them.

Their bodies flew about the cage like ragdolls, Thor's heavy impacts making large cracks in the glass walls. He winced every time Jane made a particularly vicious contact. His body could surely sustain such hits, but her mortal form was not as durable as his Aesir body.

Each time they flew past each other, Thor would reach desperately for her, anything to try and bring her small body to his, and each time he would miss. His fingertips would just brush against her, cling desperately, but ultimately would not catch her. It was madness.

Thor became more and more mindful of the rapidly approaching ground.

It was sheer luck that he caught her when he did. Just flew right into his arms, and he didn't waste the opportunity to clutch her to his chest.

Her eyes sprung open when he did so, and he saw the deep brown he had so missed.

His relief was short lived, as he finally got his footing. The ground was so close. He could see the rocks and sand and sea, the prairie grass beyond the shoreline. It took all of his focus to prepare his takeoff.

"Hold on," he whispered, as he launched with Mjolnir through the glass and out of the cage. Jane was clinging to him like a lifeline, and his arm was snug around her. The glass shattered around Mjolnir, and the pair went with it.

They were too close to the ground, he realized. He hadn't even had a proper takeoff.

His flight was absolutely chaotic, and he knew that no amount of corrections could stabilize it. They were going to hit the ground no matter what he did.

In a split second decision, he let go of Mjolnir, and wrapped both arms around Jane. Thor manipulated their positions in the air so that he would hit the ground first and hopefully spare Jane from injury. He was doubly terrified because he knew she would never survive such a catastrophic impact. He prayed to the Valkyries and Odin and any and all others that he could think of to spare Jane. For the first time in his life, he spared not a single thought for himself.

Let him die, for all he cared. Just spare Jane.

The impact was thousands of times greater than Thor feared it would be.

Jane's pained scream would haunt him for the rest of his life. He could literally feel her breaking in his arms, and the feeling was killing his soul. He struggled to retain his hold on her, and to keep himself in the path of the unforgiving earth they had come down upon.

Dirt and grass flew up around them, and he tried to ignore the feeling of Jane's blood beginning to coat his arms. Her arms, once tensed and clutching the chestplate of his armor, were now crooked and bent unnaturally. Her entire body felt like dead weight. The comparison sickened him.

At long last they came to a heaving halt, the trench left behind by Thor no small feature added to the landscape. He didn't think of himself as he stood gingerly, holding Jane against him like she was the fragilest of beings.

Her chest expanded weakly against his as he laid her down in the grass with as much care and gentleness as he had ever done anything. Her breathing was shallow, interrupted by these choking sounds that made him think she was being smothered by her own blood. Her body was broken.

He hadn't spared her from any injury at all. The realization shredded him inside, and tears, for the first time in a long while, threatened his eyes.

Her eyes were no longer pale blue, and he briefly recalled seeing them before he tore them both from the falling prison, but the natural doe brown his imagination had never done justice to. They focused on him for a moment, something akin to relief and happiness glimmering in them and her lips slowly smiled, but the action looked weak. She opened her mouth to try to say something, but no words came as it became a cough, with droplets of blood coming from her mouth to splatter on her face and him, and then an agonized moan.

Then her eyes slipped closed.

"Jane!" he exclaimed in panic, "Jane, please open your eyes," Thor begged, fear-roughened voice breaking. She was so still as the grasses waved around her. "Jane, my love, please," he plead again, and he swept her waving hair from her broken and bleeding face.

What use was his strength now? Here was Jane, dying in the grass, and all his brute strength, all his courage and fortitude, all his confidence, all his powers cowered in the face of a challenge that he could not overcome.

His fear exploded inside of him as he let out an enraged roar. Why did he do this? Why did he cause such damage to those he loved?

Was this all he was destined for? Death and destruction and ruin? He cursed the Fates, his father... Loki. His once-brother.

He was pulled so suddenly into the depths of a memory he nearly jolted away from Jane.

_A look of sympathy so clear on Odin's face_

_Thor's stallion, Toothgrinder, laying on his side in a stall, blood on his sides and sweat soaking his flanks_

_Horses are of Midgard, after all_

_They are breakable_

_Such grief, Thor looking down at his downed partner_

_The healers cannot do anything more, my son_

_Why not_

_Toothgrinder groaning, Thor wincing_

_This is beyond any healing spell_

_Sadness, horror, longing_

_He will receive a warrior's welcome when he arrives at the gates of Valhalla_

_Why must he go to Valhalla father I want him to stay here with me_

_Death is something no being can stop_

_Anger_

_I should be able to_

_Oh, son, your talents lie not in healing but on the battlefield_

_I wish I was more like Loki_

_Toothgrinder's breath coming slower and shallower now_

_Envy, sadness, grief, anger_

_I believe that this is beyond your brother's abilities_

_I should be able to_

_Love, determination, love, happiness, warmth, gold and silver and spinning colors, love_

_then_

_Toothgrinder breathing deeply_

_Toothgrinder standing_

_Toothgrinder nickering to Thor gently_

_Toothgrinder playfully butting his head into the prince_

_Surprise, shock, relief, love_

_Thor's stunned face turning to his father_

_A look of distaste so clear on Odin's face_

The only half-remembered experience suddenly filled him with fierce determination as he stared upon the woman he loved, inches from the gates of Valhalla in his arms. He couldn't, for all his ranks and respect and power, remember how he had healed Toothgrinder. He hadn't even remembered the experience until this moment, and it raised many questions that he would eventually need answers to, but now, all he could think of is how he couldn't remember how he had done it. He wished fervently he could, but since reality was Jane coughing blood onto his armor, he could only try to resummon the powers that he was afraid had left him forever.

Thor let his eyes fall closed. He tried to recall his boyhood, before Mjolnir had claimed him, before he was the warrior prince of Asgard or the God of Thunder, and before his brother was the God of Mischief and Lies. When he was just Thor, and his brother was just Loki, and they were best friends. The purity and innocence of childhood were virtues he lost long ago, and he struggled to recall their presence.

He tried to remember the light and unconditional, childlike love that had poured forth from him, had flowed as easily as the tides. How his shunned powers of healing had come to the surface in a warm, golden flash of giving a piece of himself to another living being.

He placed his hand on Jane's battered face, trying to push all that warmth into her still body. He suddenly felt the magic begin to flow, barely a pinprick of exchange at first. Almost like pulling a piece of his soul from his fingertips, but it wasn't painful. It was a piece of his soul that rejoiced in giving, in healing, in kindness and selflessness that had somehow been buried beneath the callous, war-hungered man he had become.

The pinprick of pulling continued, but he felt that it was not enough.

He filled his thoughts of Jane. The way her lips curved as she laughed on the roof of her building with the fire crackling in front of them. How the soft orange glow made her skin look like molten bronze and her hair like the finest Alfheim silks. Her kind, beautiful soul. Her merciful eyes and sweet smile. Her passion, her determination. Her faith in him so great he sometimes wondered if he could ever hope to deserve one such as her. The pinprick became larger, growing and expanding like the light of day as the sun broke over the horizon. He felt as if he were pouring his entire essence into her, breathing life into her broken body. It was magnificent.

Had his eyes not been closed, he would have seen the cuts and gashes closing, the skin as smooth and flawless as if nothing had happened. The injuries that couldn't be seen- the bleeding brain, punctured lungs, the hemorrhaging organs- all began to clot, and the tissue healing without scars. The broken bones were slower, their healing more ungainly, but they slowly moved back into place, their shattered ends meeting and knitting back together. Jane was slowly becoming whole again.

Her damaged heart with it's once broken beating, began to pump once again as the inexplicable magic of Thor hugged her close and carried her safely away from the entrance of the netherworld.

The flow of magic gradually became smaller, tapering off in a way that did not feel as if Thor was failing. Simply that he had done enough, and it was time to stop. He swallowed heavily, afraid to open his eyes and find that he had not done anything. That Jane still lay dying and he could do nothing to prevent it.

But, that was not what he saw when he finally gathered his vaunted courage and opened his eyes.

She was whole again. As beautiful and healthy as the fateful day he had called down the Bifrost and promised her that he would return. Her clothing bore the marks of their crash: her shoes long lost, her pants torn along seams and ripped open all along her thighs and knees, her outer flannel shirt was gone, the only evidence it had even been on her were a few red strands of cloth clinging to her inner shirt, a loose-white shirt that bore so much blood Thor nearly broke down. But the body beneath those tattered remains was healthy, healed.

He was afraid when he looked upon her and saw her so still, but he put a hand to her chest, the blood still wet against his palm, and felt a steady, strong beating there. He smoothed over her face fretfully, pushing the strands of hair from her features. He didn't trust his voice, but needed her to wake up. Softly, he said, "Jane? Jane, love, open your eyes."

All seemed right in the world when her eyes flickered open.

* * *

**According to Norse myth, Thor is also the god of healing. Bizarre? Yes. Accurate? Probably not. Useful? You better believe it. Also, the name of Thor's horse is actually the name of one of Norse Thor's goats that pulled his chariot. Hey, this isn't canon so I can do whatever I want.**

**Also, I'm not sure where Asgard got its horses, but I have extensively studied evolution, and there is just about no chance Midgard horses and Asgard horses are not related (or the same) from what we saw of them in the Thor movie. And I like the idea of Asgard getting horses from Midgard. Don't like it? Well, that is too bad.**

**Chapter 8 Preview:** Jane and Thor are once again reunited. But all is not well as Jane's machine is in the grasp of Loki and his plans to bring the Chitauri to Earth are moving forward.

_"Thor?" Her tone was equal parts disbelief, awe, and deep affection that Thor was suddenly afraid of putting name to now that the object of his desire lay in front of him._

_Despite his misgivings, he didn't hesitate to pull her healed body into his arms, sighing deeply in profound relief, "Oh, Jane. My wise, beautiful Jane."_


	8. Freefall

**Summary:** Jane and Thor are once again reunited. But all is not well as Jane's machine is in the grasp of Loki and his plans to bring the Chitauri to Earth are moving forward.

**AN1:** Thank you for all the kind reviews! Especially to **Inky** and **CrystalShardsOfRain** and **Marcus S. Lazarus**.

* * *

On top of Stark Tower, a strange machine began to turn slowly, its blades reaching for the sky. An unknown scientist, one of the assistants under Jane's employ, followed the notes in a small, leather notebook, entering commands into the computer.

Meanwhile, Loki smiled and looked out at the sprawling Earth city. It would be the first to fall.

_It will not be long now._

* * *

It was disorienting. There was pain, a lot of it, so much so that she can barely remember exactly what transpired.

She saw Thor. That she remembers.

They were together, and they fell. Loki had smiled.

They fell, Thor caught her, and then the pain.

Each moment became clearer and clearer in her mind as the memory of crashing into the unforgiving surface of the earth was branded onto her brain. The impact, the jarring, breaking, unbelievable impact, feeling the broken bones, Thor's arms futilely attempting protection.

Thor was there, looking down on her, and she remembered smiling. He didn't look happy to see her. He looked worried, no, more like terrified on a level she couldn't fully comprehend when each breath was a struggle and the pain suffocated her mind.

He came back. He hadn't lied.

It gave her peace. He was here, and everything was fine now. It didn't hurt (She remembered slipping. The pain wasn't magnified, it was dulled, easily ignored. Logically, she knew that was bad. Very, very bad. That the body was shutting down, that pain meant you were alive. But there, on the ground, Jane wasn't worried about it.) and she began to just slide away. Like she was being gently pulled into the middle of her brain, a feeling of relaxation. Like her mind detaching from her body.

And then she wasn't. She went inwards, and then came back out, like something had grabbed her just before she went beyond some unnamed point of no return. She had no conscious thought, and she wouldn't remember the sensation of being pulled when she awoke.

What she did remember was the feeling of warmth, deep affection that squeezed her gut and tightened her throat, and of this strange wave of heat that focused intensely on points throughout her body.

She was feeling _magic_, and Jane wondered if this is what death felt like.

And then she opened her eyes and found she wasn't dead at all.

Thor was still there. She hadn't imagined him. He was there, beautiful and alive and huge. There was think look of shock and awe on his face that didn't quite register. She'd forgotten how large he was compared to her. One of his hands nearly engulfed the back of her head, and despite the knowledge that he could probably crush her skull if he had half a mind to, she wasn't afraid.

Despite their bizarre meeting, Darcy and Erik's suspicions, his own rather curious actions, never once had she felt fear in his presence.

Quite frankly, her mind was too scattered at the moment to really focus on any of those things. The only things she knew were that Thor was here and she should be (_is?_) dead.

"Thor?" His name was weak on Jane's tongue, but he shook with relief when he heard it.

Of all the things he wanted to say to her, he said none of them. Thor just pulled her into his arms, bringing her tightly to his chest with a heaving exhale. "Oh, Jane," he finally breathed. "My wise, beautiful Jane."

He held her for several long, heavy moments. When he finally released her, he laid her back down gently in the grass. "Where- What- How did I-" She tripped over her words in the most unflattering manner, but Thor didn't seem to mind, and just silenced her with a gentle hand on her cheek.

"Hush, my Jane. We are somewhere on Midgard, I know not the precise location. Your mind was controlled by Loki, and he dropped us from your Carrier in the Sky."

Her brain was slowly re-righting itself, and she could finally handle clear lines of thought. "How am I still alive?" she finally managed.

"I... I healed you." His tone indicated he himself didn't quite believe it.

"Healed me?" Jane's mind raced, trying to figure exactly why that didn't seem so bizarre to her. "The stories," she remembered, "said you were the god of healing."

His expression became complicated then. Hardened, but softened at the same time by confusion and hurt. "Then it appears Midgard was more aware of my powers than even I." _That_ was obviously a loaded statement, and Jane didn't think she had it in her just yet to discern just what he meant by it. Thor obviously didn't want to talk about it either as he soon after said softly, "I have missed you, Jane Foster."

"I've missed you, too," she admitted, smiling. Sick of looking up at him from their somewhat awkward positions on the ground, she began to slowly sit up, the rush of blood in her head nearly making her sway and fall back again, but Thor kept an arm steady behind her, helping her until she was fully seated and they could (jeez, he was bigger than she remembered) almost see eye-to-eye. She couldn't help but snicker softly at her invalidity. "This is not exactly how I pictured us meeting again."

This brought a small smile to his face. "Yes, I did imagine it being in much lighter-hearted circumstances. As well as much sooner... Jane, you must know that I had every intention of returning to you."

She wasn't sure what to say. "I..." She tried to begin saying _I know_ (_she didn't on all days_) but the inflections of what that meant for _them_ she hadn't measured yet. There were obviously things they had to talk about, and she wasn't even sure what his expectations were, or her own for that matter, or even if there was a _them_ to be discussed. Well, she was pretty sure the latter was up in the air. _He had kissed her back, after all_. So perhaps not... Well, she never was good at being sappy anyway. She finally settled on "What happened up there? We detected massive readings from what I think was the Bifrost and then they just... stopped. Like something was cut off." She got her feet under herself and steadily rose to her feet, without the head rush that had accompanied sitting up. Thor didn't let her go.

Thor sighed wearily, "I had to destroy it to prevent my brother's destruction of Jotunheim." He sounded like he would never get used to saying that. "Jane, I will tell you everything you wish to know, but I must rejoin my Midgardian shieldbrothers and stop Loki."

Jane's eyes widened for a brief moment, as if she'd forgotten him altogether. She hadn't, not really, but the situation had faded into the back of her mind. "Loki, he has the machine!" Suddenly, all her plans and thoughts and calculations from her time under Loki's command leaped forward. She had opened the stars, invented a wormhole, proved so many theories and showed a practical demonstration of the fourth dimension... accomplished everything she had ever dreamed of doing all in order to assist in the downfall of her world. "Thor, he's going to open the portal in the middle of New York City!"

Thor became unreadable. "You must direct me to this City of New York. I must stop my brother from causing any more harm to your realm."

Jane nodded already trying to estimate exactly where they were. Somewhere along the coast obviously. Jersey, maybe? As she did so, she insisted, "Thor, I'm coming with you. I can turn off the portal, maybe even prevent it from being opened if Loki hasn't-"

"No." Thor's voice was solidified with a finality as he moved to stand directly in front of Jane. She didn't sway without his support, standing firm, feeling her temper begin to stir.

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Excuse me?"

Despite now being at odds with her, Thor showed no give. "No, Jane. I've put you in harms way for long enough. I am not inclined to let it happen again under my watch."

Trying to keep her voice calm and just barely succeeding, Jane said, "Thor, this is my choice. You can't just take it away from me because you feel guilty."

"I am trying to protect you!" Thor defended.

She lost her struggle with trying to keep her temper in check. "And I am trying to protect my planet! Do you have any idea how many people live in New York City? If that portal stays open, a lot of them will die!" The full ramifications of what she had built had begun to hit her.

Thor's tone was calmer than hers, but it was obvious he'd be shouting pretty soon as well. "Jane, it is not your responsibility to-"

"Like hell it's not!"

"Jane, see reason! You will be walking into battle, one you are not equipped to fight!"

"If I can shut off the device, there won't even be a battle for me to walk into!"

"Loki's war will have begun long before you can arrive to stop it."

"Thor, I made this whole thing possible, I handed the bridge to Loki on a silver platter. I _built _that thing. I am the one responsible, and I need to make it right."

"Jane you are not being rational! You will be offering yourself to harm, to Loki's machinations."

"You don't think I know that?"

"Jane, it is war!"

"One that I made possible!"

"You are assigning blame where none lies! Loki's control of your mind was not something you could fight-"

"Thor, you cannot tell me that I-"

His next words were accompanied by a loud clap of thunder. "Jane, we cannot continue to waste time!" The loud roll of thunder seemed to jolt them slightly out of their argument, and Thor sounded much calmer. "The Chitauri _are_ upon us, and I must do my part as sworn protector of Midgard. I... I cannot do so if I know you are in harm's way." His tone became tender, pleading. "Jane, please. For my sake, do not pursue this."

She heard his point. It was a valid argument. "Thor, I... I can't just let it go."

"For me?" he pleaded. "I beg of you Jane. I will prostrate myself on my hands and knees if you require it-"

"Please don't," she said gently, the hint of a reluctant smile playing on her lips. "I understand where you are coming from, I do. I'm just not sure I can just stand off to the side and leave it alone. The fact of the matter is that I _did_ build it, and I am the _only_ one who knows how to shut it off."

He stepped into her personal space once more, framing her face with his hands. "I know not what other words I may use to persuade you." _Except..._ He looked her dead in the eye, and, as serious as he was earnest, "I think I may love you, Jane Foster," he saw her eyes widen, but he didn't let it stop him despite the fact that his heart was in his throat, "and I am not strong enough to lose you."

She was silent. Mostly in shock, partly in contemplation. Her mouth fell open, but nothing came out. She couldn't bring herself to say _I love you, too_. Because did she? They knew each other all of one week before the Bifrost swept him up and never returned him. Sure, she had feelings for him. A lot of them and pretty intensely, more than she had ever really felt for anyone else, but then again she's always been a bit of an emotional cripple. Was it love? She really, really didn't know or want to answer that right now. "Okay," was her brilliant response. She felt heat rush to her cheeks. _Really, Jane? Your response when someone says I love you is Okay?_ To be fair, there was a lot on her mind at the moment.

Thor didn't seem to mind, and Jane was glad for that. She hated to see him in distress. A thumb brushed gently over the skin of her cheek. "Jane, please."

An insane plan began to form in Jane's mind. And it would begin with a lie. "I will stay behind on one condition."

"Anything," Thor answered.

His desperate tone nearly made her wince. "Turn off the portal. Get Loki's scepter. That's the key to turning it off." She dropped to the ground, much to Thor's initial confusion. When she began to draw a rough diagram of her machine in the dirt beneath their feet, Thor understood what she was doing and dropped down beside her. Her drawing was about as accurate as one could expect from a drawing in the dirt, but she was sure Thor would get the gist. "Right here. Right at the crown," she stabbed a finger just below the square she had drawn that represented the Tesseract. "You put Loki's scepter there and it will disrupt the Tesseract's energy and," she drew an exaggerated slash above the diagram, "close the bridge."

Her acquiescence was obviously a relief, and she nearly felt him sag with it. "I shall do as you have commanded, my lady." The pair stood together. She felt the guilt begin when he smiled, broad and beautiful, in his gratitude. God, why was this so hard? For some reason he just seemed so goddamned innocent. It felt like lying to a kid.

And then he wasn't childlike at all when one of his hands dropped to her hip, pulling her close to him. Well, their attraction to each other hadn't changed. Not one bit. The contact felt alive, humming with some sort of tension that needed to be released. And standing this close to the Thunder God was pretty heady. _God, Jane. Control yourself._ The other hand went to cup her head, threading through her hair that was still filled with blood and dirt, and brought her forehead to his. "When this is over, Jane, we must have words."

She couldn't help but notice his use of _when_ and not_ if_. Thoughts of him drained from her head, while darker, horrible images replaced it. That darker part of her was screaming _if if if it's over, if if if I didn't kill millions of people_, _if if if I am not responsible for the fall of Earth._ She put on a smile, despite how plastic it felt on her face. She hoped Thor didn't notice. "I know. Just go save the world first."

As soon as she finished her sentence, a violently blue beam shot up into the sky northeast of where they stood, and much closer than she had anticipated. So they probably weren't in Jersey after all. Jane looked beyond Thor, and he turned to face the evidence of his brother's betrayal.

To Jane, it was beautiful and horrific. The absolute paragon of theoretical astrophysics and the vision of what could be (would be?) the downfall of their world. It was a confusing mix for Jane.

A window appeared in the sky, looking through to the blackness of outer space.

Then the Chitauri descended, ink stains spreading across the blue of the sky.

Jane's eyes snapped urgently back to Thor. He looked torn between her and his duty, so she set his priorities straight quickly. "Go," she commanded, a touch desperately, worriedly. If her life was perfect, it would've been a perfect moment for the hero to kiss his girl before taking off to save the day. Unfortunately, her life wasn't picturesque.

Thor closed his eyes and breathed deeply before stepping away from her. She took a couple of steps after him, but he held up a hand. "It is best to not be by my side right now, my Jane."

She followed his words, and took several large steps back. He held out his hand, and she heard a magnetic hum as Mjolnir returned to him. He raised it to the sky, and dark clouds rolled in faster than was naturally possible, and poured lightning down upon the one the storms bowed to. It was natural reaction for a gasp to come from Jane, but as she watched it ensconce him, she recognized the scene as the one that had resurrected him after his encounter with the Destroyer. There was a much more tangible, physical feel to Thor's armor appearing than Loki's tendency to summon it up from nothing; his cape unfurled from nowhere, and the chainmail that seemed to have no gaps being magnetically pulled onto his arms.

_Don't have a science geek-out, Jane. Don't. You already said Okay to his I love you._ Suddenly testing Thor's magnetic signature became a very interesting prospect.

_Focus,_ she internally snapped. It didn't take much for her to pull back, listening to the sound of gunfire and explosions now coming from the city.

The lightning soon released Thor, and he was now fully armored. He was a majestic sight to behold, and it made her hurt that she was misleading him. "Please stay safe, my love," he said, so heartbreakingly sincere, she almost spilled her guts then and there. She covered her mouth with her hand in what she hoped looked like appropriate worry. Within no time, he was in the air and flying towards the violence.

Jane watched as scarlet cape fade as he neared her portal.

No matter what she had promised him, no matter what his assurances were that this burden was not hers to carry, it _was her fault_ that the machine was possible.

And she would not stand by and watch people suffer at the mercy of what she began.

**Chapter 9 Preview:** The Chitauri are attacking, and Earth's Mightiest Heroes are fighting a losing battle. Jane puts herself in harm's way to stop what her creation began.

_"Oh, my dear, I am afraid you just make this too easy." __Jane whirled from her machine in time to see Loki's wicked smile spreading across his face. "Despite the lack of challenge, you are simply too much fun."_


End file.
